If you don't need the extra money at closing and just want to pay off your current loan in hopes of a better rate, you could consider a rate term refi instead. 

Something like a house hack, rent out extra bedrooms in your unit, rent by the room, mid term, short term rent the owner occupied unit on busy weekends (and go stay with friends/family)...get really scrappy.

They did have an extra step to make sure that you were the owner of the property, but otherwise it was not bad at all. 

Because the extra family members weren't on the original eviction, I had to wait another 3 months to get them out. 6 months altogether. 

So, it's not like Scott had devised some extra default prone strategy to troll gullible fools, while making all his money teaching noobs to self-destruct.

As an example, we decided to replace the windows in a house we were renovating and ended up costing us $50,000 extra because we got into issues with permitting and suddenly found ourselves having to hire an architect, speciality contractors, etc.  

Unless you are planning on investing in your back yard and have extra time to spend, getting a good PM is very important.  

Thoughtful extras, such as welcome baskets or well-stocked kitchens with basic spices, can make a stay memorable.

The only big issue I ran into is on of the basement walls needed extra support, I don't think a newer build would have that issue. 

You can always build in a small extra fee for a realtor if its an off market property.