Your homemade surety bond would guarantee covering the low end (b/c you've collected the bond up front) and if you capped the surety bond at $1,500 say, you are still eligible to go after damages in excess of that amount just as you can now with security deposits, so the only part "at risk" is the delta, the $1,500-$350 = $1,150.

It’s making me rethink my website focus: Mainly whether it makes sense to wait to ditch my "home-grown" website yet.Right now I mainly need landing pages for my direct mail (probate, and other motivated sellers) and was about to change my “home-made” site to either Investor Carrot or Lead Propeller.

This is the cheapest way I have found to make homemade bandit signs and the black marker on yellow board really pops.

@Elizabeth Smith if you can, use a State contract, not something home-made.

A store that only sells homemade fresh pasta, ravioli, shells etc.

That's a very big deal.Just some things to get you started.Tell mom I like home made cherry pie with ice cream on top and I'll be by to collect this summer. 

My first suggestion is to join a local real estate investors association, just google and ad your city, so you can find a mentor or partner who has the same interest that you do.Some basic methods of finding properties are:1) Driving for dollars - Drive your farm area looking for vacant and distressed properties2) Place adds in small newspapers or direct mail newsletters3) Place adds on internet sources like craigslist and backpages or Use homemade bandit signs (batman buys houses etc.)4) Other wholesalers5) expire mls listings or FSBOSSome more advanced methods are:1) Working City Code Violations2) Creating a Birdog network3) Tenant evictions list4) Tax certificate sales pre auction list5) Bankruptcies/divorcesOf course you still have foreclosures and probates, but those are the norm and have heavy competitionGood luck Big E

I learned the hard way that it  Jessica Hood,next time cut some 1" wood pieces from a 1x1 or 1x2 and drive nails or screws trough = your home made painters pyramid

I don't want helicopter mom calling me on a Saturday to report her son's refrigerator went out and she just filled it with her homemade Gezpacho or that Junior is being bullied by his roommate, Karen.

I have a homemade spreadsheet I use for projecting the return on a property that I could share if you want.