Following for further commentary as I have begun the preliminary research of the right entity to form for my goals.

I would like to take that money, use it as a preliminary payment and set up a rent to own situation over those next 4-5 years to own my own home.

Some of the facets I'm going to discuss might come off as distrustful for mentioning, but they exist in the industry and you will be at a disadvantage if you are unaware of them.When speaking of the standard procedure regarding making an offer, conducting physical inspections, and working on removing your financing contingency, there are a few aspects to keep in mind.First, some investors choose the route of wrapping up a deal in contract after very preliminary analysis.

I get a preliminary Rehab bid on any significant issues found.  

Does anyone have a good "process" that is used to do some preliminary market research online?

Ask the right questions so you are confident of what you are applying for...All, I was looking to obtain a Unsecured Personal Line of Credit when I went thru Fundwises preliminary approval process.

I've been doing some preliminary reading, playing with the calculators... even attended the BP webinar last night which was very motivational! 

I'm planning to start off with 1 property, and then gradually build up a protfolio as I get more experience and confidence with investing long-distance.Based on some preliminary reasearch (a lot of it from the forums here), I've narrawed it down to 3 cities: Charlotte, Dallas, and Provo Orem.

Maybe I would be comfortable doing a very preliminary search just to decide whether to put an offer on a property, but never for any other purpose.

Also on a $500,000 purchase when there is a purchase loan involved, please give us a preliminary CD (closing disclosure) breakdown of all the title cost and fees your company charges