How else can I verify past performance? 

My lawyer tried to challenge the interpretation (with an appeal) but was not successful and we had to obtain the zoning approval for a second time.

Good luck with your first STR—sounds like you’re already thinking ahead on how to set it up for success!

Without the judicious use of leverage (debt), success in real estate investing is severely limited, especially when the investor has limited capital to work with.If you’re looking for 8% ROI with little - moderate risk, no leverage is necessary.  

These agents have access to a large inventory of bank-owned properties and can provide valuable insights into the local market.If you follow these steps, you'll be well on your way to successfully fixing and flipping REO properties.

I'm a 24-year-old man that's determined and ambitious and that wants to be extremely successful in all endeavors of life.

—will be key to success!!

I hope that makes sense.That said, you can do research into the company and see if they have a good rep, etc; however, if they don't perform you are out the money.You should really only pay the lender if the deal closes.

if something is just sitting on the MLS looking too good to be true... then it's too good to be true.these properties are going to have higher costs overall, be in more challenging neighborhoods, have very gnarly deferred maintenance and capex, potentially have liens, be high turnover, and require expert, highly knowledgeable, localized support to be successful. see for example this thread.https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/1137397-balti...and even at those price points, i think cash flow is fairly low to non-existent if rehabbed to a high grade, especially with DSCR debt. 

. :) Sounds like you're setting yourself up for success!