Propane is seemingly less expensive in most areas and provides good heat.

So @Mike S. is providing the perfect solution for you. 

From there we identify properties that could have some potential and if you are interesting in diving deeper, 1) we do a thorough video walkthrough to give you a realistic look of the property, 2) we give a ballpark estimate of rehab costs (we do 40 a year with our GCs o we will get pretty close), 3) we talk through market rent with our property management team, ARV, and potential highest and best use.Ideally you find great investor agents who know their market really well and have a network of resources to provide you with enough confidence to take reasonable action. 

Provide them proof of your ability to find, fix, flip (or whatever strategy you plan to use), and then start with small amounts of their money.

I wasn’t prepared to lose so much of my savings as carrying cost basically I paid for the tenants to live there for 3 months + my own living expenses in that time.

There's no reason to provide details, though I do let people know if anyone asks that we do not accept bulk up-front rent payments or anything like that because I absolutely do not want a prospective tenant to think that someone else swooped in with a bunch of cash last minute.

@Phil SheltonYou would need a civil engineer to provide a drawing to get submitted to zoning and get a permit if it passes zoning is most common This also depends on the road - if it’s a state road forget it as it will take a year to get approved and cost a fortune - if it’s a local road process not as cumbersome but don’t expect this to happen quicklyIn some instances you may have to prepare sight distances etc to make sure it’s safe to add a curb cut

I wonder if your local MLS provider has a list of MLS_only brokers in their system?

If the electronic lock fails, you provide the tenant with the code so they can access the key.

Same to me on Zillow, I think it’s because Zillow makes money providing or finding loans.