Good luck on your journey and I hope you provide the financial security you hope for to your daughters. 

If you're already in a secure financial position, leveraging your equity could be a smart strategy.

Consider all the things that could go wrong and see if the lease addresses them: unauthorized pets or tenants, early termination, security deposit, lease violations, late rent, eviction, lawn maintenance, parking, etc.5.

You are not responsible for his failure to secure his personal property.

If you google the Wyoming address it is an attorney's address who specializes in setting these companies up and is a mail forwarding service not a "real" office with staff, owners etc.In the one investment document I read, your investment would be in a construction company with no assets and secured only by a UCC filing.  

Glad we're secured, but nothing in rei is passive.

We are now suing them in TX small claims court as the security deposit was not enough to cover the 2 - 3 months rent after they trashed the house. 

Thanks for the feedback—it really makes me step back and think about this whole situation.To answer your question about the hard money loan: I went that route because I needed to close quickly, and hard money was the fastest way to secure the deal.

Toward the end before closing, they gave bunch of excuses like security breach in their company, don't like the file and the property.

If it does you have zero asset/income, a much larger debt secured by your personal residence, at just the time you probably also lose your job due to economic conditions, and all those nice folks teaching you about sno ball, infinity, you’re your own bank, etc., will be long gone.