They will also have a hard time finding an investment providing return at a higher rate than 4%.Especially if that private lender is not “sophisticated”.I don’t know if it is a scam but I don’t think that it is necessarily a scam purely based on those numbers.Assuming that there is no or very little risk, 4% is not a bad ROI.I am sure many of us know some real estate investors who have investment producing lower return if not negative returns.We don’t know the relationship that Mark has with the private lender.

There are some sophisticated spreadsheets people create but personally I focus on an area and am pretty good at spotting a deal when I see it. 

The most common one (Reg D 506b) has the requirement that you know the sponsor and that you are either accredited or sophisticated.

Also sophisticated sellers will probably object to that kind of contingency so you may need to make it a 7 day inspection contingency.

If accredited (or sophisticated, depending on the situation) you could also become a passive investor with syndicators that focus on the market you prefer.

Contractors run sophisticated, highly regulated businesses.

I have yet to use them ,because we have not syndicated, but I have heard they make the process seamless.AS far as being accredited or sophisticated, that depends on the type of offering you are using.  

Suffice to say I am not terribly sophisticated and have relied on robo investor to date! 

I also work in the industry, managing hundreds of homes for over 100 investors all over the world with different strategies, experiences, and sophistication.

But I’m learning that a lot of sophisticated investors are trying to move outside of real estate and into things like life settlements, land conservation/oil investments for the tax benefits.