I was just hoping there was someone that had personal experience with them.

That's been an interesting experience!

out of 100 HML maybe 5 do new builds.. and zero will do loans for someone with no experience so that is going to be the key if you have experience or not.. if not they then like to see an experienced GC on your team. 

Really appreciate you sharing your experience, sounds like a solid deal with a great profit margin, especially considering you did 90% of the work yourself.

Hiring a property management company with experience in the markets you're considering can be a game-changer.Have you identified which markets you want to invest in?

My wife and I earn over $350k a year in our jobs and all of that is now going to pay down debt.We have the option to increase our HELOC to unlock some more capital which I'm considering doing to try and get a good return on my money and pay down the debt faster, but given past experiences I'm not convinced it won't end up with more debt.What would you do at this point?

My former experience has been with LTR and I'm currently focused on STR in E TN but interested in learning other useful strategies and expanding markets in later deals. 

If you provide more specific detail, and ask more specific questions, we will be able to provide answers in line with our knowledge/experience.  

It worked out fine, though each time I got a little less than advertised interest rate (about 9% vs 10%) and I had to send a reminder email to to get my money back, but I did get it back.I ask about others' experience, because I'm still not 100% sure it's not a ponzi. 

You don't need to know everything to get started; you need a foundation to build on, and the rest will come through experience and then refining your education.You can build a basic understanding of investing in 3-6 months.