Sometimes you have to be flexible on the tactics and inflexible on the goal.

They have strict guidelines and are very inflexible.

I ultimately decided to withdraw all my retirement account money when I left my employer.I liked the flexibility of being able to invest in what I want to invest in and do what I please with the income.I think a retirement account(401k or IRA) is good for those who feel like they won't manage their finances properly.I just see it that I am taking it from one retirement account(401K or IRA(inflexible)) to another retirement account(real estate).There are pros/cons of taking money out from a retirement account as it may be deemed a taxable event.

They seem potentially expensive, confusing, inflexible and...maybe lucrative?

Any other bill, companies will work with you, electricity, water, cable etc... but landlords largely remain inflexible.

Luckily I have some room in the deal from buying well to weather the current situation as well as built in flexibility with my private lender to extend the interest only period before I finish renovation and refi.

Yes there can be issues, but it can also be that the seller has been inflexible.

With VA loan benefits and current interest rates, I feel like I have a good opportunity, but rent in the area seems pretty low and inflexible.

I buy things that "turn key investors" won't touch but are not awful enough for flippers.I honestly am not doing anything different from anyone else other than listening to my real estate agent and being flexible/inflexible depending on the momement.

The proposed US interagency guidance proposes larger banks need to hold high quality, (super) liquid assets for a prescribed amount of runoff (overly prescribed/inflexible if you ask me) - rather than relying on off-balance sheet funding sources and a balance sheet full of less liquid investments/assets (they more or less want treasuries or cash to fulfill a low/moderate runoff, with haircuts/limits on Agency MBS) The caveat is that the runoff is what you would see in a low/medium liquidity stress scenario, so they can still project to lean on borrowings in high stress.