Start small, build a reserve fund, and work with local experts to ensure your first investment is a solid one.Good luck!

You'll need 20% down plus reserves for other costs as well as repairs and vacancies. 

Don’t forget heloc, DSCR, 2nd on primary, borrow from retirement accounts, credit card cash advance, property reserves, home improvement store credit, etc etc.

If you’re referring to the “newbies” with $10k to their name that watch a video by Pace and get excited and pay for joining, go out with their last $5k and do a sub to with a “desperate” homeowner without revealing all the possible consequences (because they are unaware of the consequences through lack of experience and lack of knowledge and or choose not to inform the seller) then I agree, it’s probably going to turn out badly for all concerned.If on the other hand you’re referring to a seasoned investor with excellent credit, significant cash reserves, who wants to add a property to their portfolio without going through loan qualifying, and can pay enough to give the seller “walking away” money because of the low existing interest rates and or, and is dealing with a informed seller, then I find nothing wrong or negative about the transaction.  

Confirm that the warranty applies to the type of property you own and consider whether the annual cost and service call fees make sense compared to just handling repairs yourself or using your own trusted contractors.

At least you confirm the people are real. 

Best tips are take it slow and make sure you have significant reserves when you leave your w2 also don't buy a company car if you already have a car just to say it's for work.

To minimize time the property is vacant, have the Realtor coordinate with the existing Tenant for the last 30 days of their occupancy for showings so you have the best possible chance of securing a new Tenant without a break in between.I would love to know some of the details of your property, and do a rental rate check up to confirm you have the right price. 

Do you have enough cash reserves for the negative cash flow for a couple of years? 

Also, for flips, I like to reserve an additional 15-20% in contingency for unforeseen conditions or changes.