They still haven't got a "plan" of how to do it.Examples of Goals, not plans:*  Buying (fill in your #) house per year, or this year* Acquiring (fill in your #) rentals per year, or this year* Getting out of debt by (fill in your year/month/age)* Quitting my job by (fill in your year/month/age)* Paying for (fill in a debt or other cost)* Buying enough rentals to pay for all of my monthly expenses, so I can retire* Being debt free* Stating a minimum profit/cash flow per property* Stating a timeframe for paying off a property* Stating criteria for holding, flipping...these are rules to follow...not plans* Defining a set of "do's & don'ts"...these are guidelines...not plans.How do you know the difference?  

Getting into the habit of tracking Net Worth on a quarterly basis and Net Income (how much of the money that you make do you actually keep) on a monthly basis has been tremendously helpful to me in defining, and then advancing, my REI goals.

The deposit amount would not be worth litigating and the purchase agreement specifically defines that the most the seller can get in a law suit would be the earnest money deposit so hopefully that is another deterrent.

@Brian Matthews We are definately not buying real estate for the sake of buying real estate.

@Brandon G.The "finer details" should never be worked out at closing, they should be defined by the contract, addenda, exhibits, etc. 

And when you find that MLO, he/she will tell you that while 9.99% interest may get you below the statutory definition of usury, it is still likely to be defined as predatory, and the MLO will not originate a loan on those terms.

I do have a defined income (annuity) with approximately $15-20k available.

You have to re-define yourself.

Hot Rental areas are different than hot flip areas.How do you define HOT?

Define what you want and go for it.