I took a gamble and lost haha.

Much like in the stock market trying to “time” the market is simply a gamble unless you have a crystal ball.

Maybe 90% of what is claimed and marketed would be considered illegal/fraudulent in any other investment vehicle.

There are no natural disasters. there are two major universities, there's a good amount of things to do, taxes are low (I see newer houses with lower taxes than some 100 year old midwest homes), the area is easy to get to, and the laws here are pretty friendly to investment as the government has taken the gamble of giving major tax breaks to corporations and this in turn has helped fuel the job market.As for the rental stock, the seasonal snowbirds seem to have enough money to either do long STR's or own second homes here.

You should definitely stay away from fraudulent wholesalers and agents, and do include incompetent ones to that as well.

It is a gamble.  

Why would you want to provide a fraudulent proof of funds and tarnish your reputation?

There are a lot of these types of lenders out there but there are a lot of incompetent ones, ones that talk a big game and then don't deliver and unfortunately fraudulent ones as well. 

Was that loan sought under fraudulent terms?

All they need to do is go to their bank and explain that someone fraudulently took their money.