The books are good for motivation (rah rah) and extremely thin on actual principles and methods to follow through on the hype.

I'm looking to keep my debt servicing (Principle + Interest) at less than 3:1 to the income.

You either need to buy significantly below FMV... buy in an area that expects very high appreciation... aggressively pay down principle... or be prepared to put 20% down on your next Owner Occupied home (i.e. non-FHA).

I want to keep my cash reserves available for incidental expenses/taxes/closing costs/inspections etc, and pay towards principle in the future, if possible.I realize I'm making several assumptions here, and have been light on many specifics.

Not sure what the objective is and exactly what the competing interests are or how they blend but in terms of structuring it is the first thing that jumps out.

As a borrower if you can not take a step back and look objectively at your project find a friend who can.

Of course you could always create a wiki tailored to this objective yourself, but there may already be a robust platform available.

Rich's story is very heartwarming, I can see how it is an unforgettable transaction for him.In trying to stay within the scope of the thread title, such a transaction would have actually started long before that as he would have building time, etc.Also, the quickest transaction would have to be either wholesaling or some time of quick funding as anything other than those have holding times.So for the quickest transaction, both Rich and I funded a loan and the very same day, received our principle and interest payments back from the title company.

I have no idea what’s better for you, nor how you will approach these people, how effective your marketing is, etc.Your objective is to develop a target list of properties owned by deceased persons.

My principle instrument was french horn.Sounds like you're well versed with your analysis.