The median home price is also very low nationwide which creates a low barrier to entry.

@Benjamin CarverThat was an OUTSTANDING post.

A federal court in Texas issued a nationwide injunction, halting enforcement of the CTA just weeks before the January 1, 2025, deadline.2.

For example, here in Columbus Ohio, you have amazing macros (population growth, job growth, and companies moving and developing here like Intel headquarters, Amazon, FB, Google, Nationwide, and recently Anduril AND you can still find positive cash flow and the 1% rule here PLUS there's AMAZING appreciation potential.2.

That said, this might not work for everyone, so a fix-and-flip loan can be a great alternative.My team and I work with investors nationwide who face these same decisions.

Maybe seller holds a 2nd, maybe partner with someone, maybe get some F&F (friends and family) money, maybe offer a higher rate for the 2.5 years the 2nd is outstanding. 

Auction.com for some 66% or so of the preforeclosures in your area, other trustee's run other auctions, but auction.com has sucked up the majority of the business nationwide.   

The median home price is also very low nationwide which creates a low barrier to entry.

If it were an outstanding applicant and I was trying to get there business i may try to entice them, but generally I'm going to offer things like discounts on rent if they wanna sign for more than a year.  

From the Great Recession to Q1 2022 it was easy to find RE that seemed very likely to produce outstanding return.