I've built my mindset to believe that my W2 is a prison that I have to escape.

PS; I house-hacked with my brother for 2 years. 

There are a few other options as well that can be taken to escape the FHA to Conv. 12 month rule.

Like in my mind that is truly the last thing on earth that I could imagine to mess up my real estate investment plans with some idiot with a stolen car crashing into your property and escaping and I imagine how you felt when you found out.  

Even if you know the owner like a brother, you need to do your checks and balances.

You have no case.If the lien was bc seller has a brother on title who won't sign off then you're owed your EMD back.

Fast forward, my brother and I co-founded a property management company in Boston, where we handle everything from tenants to transformations.

Purchase price: $110,000 Cash invested: $150,000 This is our first deal as a full family (Parents, sister and brother in law, me).

That's when the not-so-nice kid with a backpack of toy's often runs into a not-so-happy "big brother" with a "baseball bat".... 

Below are some actionable steps I plan to take after identifying a market:- find a rock star agent by referral and/or calling brokerages and asking to connect with their top producing agents- find a rock star contractor by referral and/or yelp- have control over construction by setting per diems to incentivize contractor to finish the project on time, within budget, and with good quality- leverage my rock star agent's time to check up on the construction process (checks and balances)- hire independent handymen/inspectors to check up on the construction process for a flat fee (checks and balances) There's competition everywhere, you won't escape that in any market.