I warn all tenants who give me whatever story on why rent is late or going to be late, that they will be getting a POQ notice on the 3rd day and a late fee on the 5th, I don't care if it's because their employer burned down or thieves stole all their money or their grandma needed an emergency appendectomy.

@Ryan BiankowskiIn my opinion, if you have no experience flipping houses, no experience dealing with contractors and this is your first deal, $10K is nothing.Sorry to burst your bubble.An unscrupulous contractor will burn through your $10K in one day..... literally and you may never see him again.Assuming you have no experience, I would advise you as a starting point to slow down, sit yourself down, and buy J Scott's books for $49.00........and save yourself $9,951.00.Make sure you read them through thoroughly at least once, if not twice before making your first move.There are other good books out there, maybe a good local mentor that you can learn the ropes from and even some good "guru's" that you can learn from despite all the guru bashing on BP but I would definitely start with J's books.Said books are:The Book on Flipping HousesThe Book on Estimating Rehab Costs

If you come to make a quick buck, you'll get burned fast.

That's the easiest way to get burned.

Some have made a lot of money and some have crashed and burned.

The exam is the motor burn out.

Quote from @Allison Burns: I am a new agent with no investment portfolio but am very excited to learn what's needed in order to grow my investment community to build generational wealth and a financial freedom my family will be able to use for a lifetime.

NEVER give it directly to an individual or you may get burned.

My goal is to not burn up all my cash with a down huge payment, but find other investors to partner with and share cash flow or equity, and keep some of my own cash liquid reserved for repairs/emergencies.

Ensure that she has renters insurance in the event that she floods or burns her place down - depending on how attached she is to her belongings she may seek reimbursement from someone (probably you).