This means you need to pad your rehab costs, make sure you have trusted service providers that do great work, and when you run comps be sure to bring them down a bit and see if the deal still makes sense. 

1099, social security, trust payments, annuities, etc?

No question is too silly, trust me, I’ve asked them all.

With mutual trust, your agent will be able to put more time and care into your searches, evaluating properties for you, and not having to worry if their time will all be for not.

As always, I trust you in all advise!!

The drawback is you need to build trust and relationships upfront.Both have their place, but private money tends to offer more flexibility, while hard money is more structured and accessible if you lack personal connections.

It seemed overkill to me but I'm not sure I can fully trust my instincts yet.  

Those are great places for meeting people who hopefully at some point will know, love, and trust you and will refer you business. 

You can put a mortgage into a "trust: without triggering a due on sale but again contacting your bank/lender is the best route to avoid any issues.Some banks/lenders or servicing companies change guidelines and even a trust may require other paperwork but the attorney usually facilitates that to be safe.  

Even with some people I believe are honest, I simply believe most do not properly analyze and manage risk, as is evident with nearly every syndication doing capital calls right now because they didnt properly plan for rising rates.Dave Van Horn however, along with his company PPR one of the few people I trust in the real estate space.