You can justify a personal decision with math, but it doesn't work in reverse, that's just a rationalization,...and that's the most expensive word in the REI vocabulary. 

You need to decide if you can rationalize the extra cost, it is a classic MBA MAKE versus BUY question. 

For the most part, dealing with people driven by emotions and incapable of rational thinking, I didn't bother with ANY of it.

She kind of went away from real estate investing techniques and became more about pitching all the group deals she was acting as a middle man for.I've looked at her deals before and some areas are absolutely terrible.If you're looking for the turnkey investments, I would say the deals her site recommends are probably about the industry norm.

These shortcuts are not time savers, they are deal killers, or rationalization justifiers. 

If the current interest rates are low, you are interested in buying more and your debt to income ration won't impede you buying more....I wouldn't pay them off aggressively. 

I think you’re trying to over analyze this and impose rationality and reason on the US government, which is of course quite impossible.

again, you're making these wild statements without any sort of rational explanation other than "the coast people know better" thing. 

Hopefully you have visited the property in person and checked the neighborhoods before starting an escrow.You can always facetime with the provider to confirm, issues have been addressed I am not sure why would you need to negotiate with the seller when you have middleman involved in the transaction.

And this ISN'T a 'pitch,' nor a 'rationalization,' but if someone other than these 'gurus' did meet people on a level playing field...