I am a firm believer the sun shines for everyone so thank you for all you share and also thank you for bringing awareness about the pitfalls of these mentorships. 

Focus on location: Look for properties near colleges or hospitals—they tend to bring consistent, reliable renters. 2.

With your background in cyber security and experience in the stock market, you’re already bringing a strong foundation of analytical skills that will serve you well in this space.It sounds like you’ve done your research and are ready to take the next step—do you have a specific market or strategy in mind for your first real estate investment?

Sometimes you can bring to life an old cabinet simply by painting it, putting new hardware on, and maybe updating a light fixture in the room that shines brighter, and not yellow. 

What are you bringing to the table?

Folks are going to bring their kitties and dogs regardless of what your policy is. 

Quote from @Heather Luu: This brings me to another question.

You gotta clear out all the "bad", yes at the short-term pain of really big vacancy and the short-term pains that brings.

If you were able to increase the value of the property significantly after the rehab, then you could bring the deal to a community bank  to refinance and take the hard money lender out.You keep all the equity and don’t have to file a partnership return for your annual tax return, which can be costly.  

There are additional things to avoid.My purpose for bringing this to the attention of investors is because there are misguided gurus out there teaching these very techniques.