There is a scary amount of information and smart people.

@Mary Joe Not meaning to be a smart ***, but if you are looking for passive, low return, risk averse, long term investments, what not just invest in a few good income (dividend paying) blue chip mutual funds?

With the destruction of hurricane Harvey what is a smart decision to make in this regard?

However with the destruction of hurricane Harvey what is a smart decision to make in this regard?

Even motivated sellers won't usually sound extremely eager, since they are smart enough to know they should hold back.

I see people on this thread doing that and it's a really smart move.  

Not having insurance is just not smart.

A smart marketing gimmick but best believe that you are paying the PMI off somehow (in this case via a higher interest rate)I am not saying that PMI buyouts are bad, in anyway.

Your "strategy" (aka common sense) of saving up capital is very smart, do whatever it takes to save as much as you can if you are serious about investing.

Running into a lot of sellers that will not say anything about the property, or how they acquired it, completely ridding themselves of any liability. i get it, it's smart, most of them are probably buying sight unseen or whatever the case may be. is there a way to get a sellers disclosure form from them?