I normally pick and choose the events I go to based on what will be discussed. 

The collateral is so so and some have preferences such as certain asset classes they will invest in, but generally speaking, you can obtain an equity deal with very little skin in the game. 

It runs us normally about $175/lot installed.

I would love to hear from investors who have done this before if this small of a profit % is normal?

The next several years are expected to be in a normal range of appreciation between 3.5 to 5%.

Pay for your own painting and make them pay normal rent.

Normally the escrow agent will want mutual sign off even if its clear the contract terms indicate one party should be awarded the escrow funds.

Its normally fee service providers who are the greatest advocates of the program, whether it be agents, PM's, coaches/gurus. 

@Andrew Steffens I think that most markets have normalized to give an 8-12% cash on cash return.

I don't mean to come off as a conspiracy theorist - I'm not saying this is normal; I have no experience with foreclosures, just parlaying the message.