It was not easy, since without having my property under contract I had trouble getting a property owner to sign a sales agreement with me.

No rental signs, minimum 1-2 year owner occupancy, restrictions on the number of rentals, etc. 

I couldn’t figure out who had to even sign the loan docs let alone the personal guarantees. 

But yes, I would find the houses, submit, get an offer from them with a signed PASA, take the loan through them, and after reno was complete, they would buy the house.   

I think this is the sign I need to push me to familiarize myself with investing in markets.

We had to get a signed lease and first months rent and security deposit on our current home before we could get approval from the bank.

When a self-directed IRA borrows money, the IRA account owner can't sign a personal guarantee.

We never or seldom use signs on properties. and get the best quality apps from MLS, Zillow and CL in that order. 

I’m still in the learning process of what avenue of investing I want to venture down, and about a year ago I signed up for a course to become a realtor but then backed out as it wasn’t the right time to devote that kind of studying.

Apparently, this is deeply embedded in terms and conditions (fineprint) when you sign up, do you really read through even single line item?