We look at lenders (so long as they lend in the asset class you are considering) as an additional line of due diligence (they deeply care about their money and they are likely more sophisticated than you are).

Paid platforms often offer additional features like market analytics, off-market property leads, and filters for investor-specific criteria, giving them a leg up over free options.Exactly, most platforms have to offset cost somewhere because of how expensive it is to keep the data up to date.

I heard that you would need to get neighborhood approval in addition to the city approval... 

Foreign nationals have the same rights to purchase real estate as German citizens, making it easy for Americans to invest in the German market without additional legal barriers.Furthermore, Germany has a transparent legal process for buying property, ensuring clarity and security throughout the transaction.

However, they can sometimes be higher due to the additional risk taken on by the lender.With a hard money loan, you typically make interest-only payments during the loan term.No, you wouldn't owe any more interest beyond what has already accrued if you finish the project in 3 months and pay off the hard money loan earlyIt's great that you're exploring different strategies for your real estate investments!

Additionally, your brother would inherit your cost basis in the property, which could result in significant capital gains tax if he sells the property later.

They forget time is money and the PMC shouldn't be expected to do this without additional compensation.Also, many owners are too focused on the cheapest price without understanding all the potential pitfalls. 

Additionally, Building a trustworthy local team will make the process much smoother.

Yes, I still did my own due diligence but PPR saved me hours of additional research.Perhaps the biggest reason I ended up working with PPR is because of the BiggerPockets community validation.

Even if you primarily rely on finding your own deals off market, it never hurts to have a reliable agent on your team as an additional lead source.