In the end, we decided not to tent, knowing there was risk the termites could still be active in the addition, or could have fully migrated to another location, but I felt okay with a 90% inspection.Well, I lost on that gamble.

You realize that many of the lawsuits were filed by competitors (proctor gamble).

Never send money in advance for their fee's  NEVER. thats a huge red flag that they are just out for fees and are fake lenders.2. bad or not really good written english .. on the phone they sound like they are off shore ( which they are ).3. rates  lower than market most of the fake lenders will advertise 5% rate that does not exist.4. insisting you pay for mortgage insurance  there is NO mortgage insurance on PML HML loans does not exist.While NMLS registered and state licensed is a good way to vet a lender keep in mind only 12 states require it.

They are looking for places like midtown/downtown and buying an investment property there is a gamble at best.

The other 95% will fail because they are just gambling, and when the table stops paying or they can't figure out the game, they walk away, only to be replaced by a new group of people doing the same thing!

I gambled on the water restricting supply.

Lots of people love to gamble. 

You can choose to push the carpet one more renter, and if the roof looks sad but isn't leaking yet, you can gamble another year.

Many people can get by without pulling them, but it's a gamble.  

but in my view it makes a relatively "safe" investment in cash flowing real estate into a gamble on appreciation.