Quote from @Henry Lazerow:My guess is most of the deals selling go to newbies who have no idea what a rehab really costs or that once you open the walls the costs often go up 10's of thousands so you need a solid margin to make money. 

This will give you an idea of where you can be priced at with factual data rather than guessing a 3%. 3% could be sufficient but the data will help you be confident in your decision. 

I guess the question I have is what are you going to do with money that doesn’t go in reserve?

I guess I'd have to get a hard money loan or DSR since I don't have W2 income (I'm retired), and my DTI ratio is too high. 

My guess is they are deadbeats. 

I guess I am a pessimist but here is why this will struggle:1.

I guess I need help determining how to locate properties to be able to crunch the numbers. 

Going to guess that they have a solid contract, that you signed, that states they make no guarantees or warranties about the referrals they give.

I guess the purpose for this is to help fund community improvements and maintenance though it's a bit unusual since HOA fees and property taxes typically cover these.

They were all non performing - many renovation loans where little reno was done and maturity date already passed - guessing it was inexperienced borrowers learning how to flip and were getting "easy" money. ya they took me out of about 14 of my deals and well being that I was getting paid it was not my place to coach them they made loans far in excess of my positions.