Also the better you (or a trusted contractor) can estimate repair costs that are conducive to the market, the easier it is to reverse engineer the number and determine the adequate purchase price to yield your desired profit. 

Planning is great - I never was good at that - words are easy to put down on paper - other people's ideas are fun to experiment with and can make someone new in this business feel good for awhile I guess.Over 40 years ago I can recall as if it were yesterday - I was where many of the new folks on this site are today - I was motivated to make money in real estate - had a giant desire to create a little success (the low pay awful job I had, and a jerk for a boss just wasn't cutting it  - but I had motivation - i discovered quickly that it takes more than motivation to pay the bills.So this one seminar I took the guru said "set a goal, build your team and find a mentor".OK - I set a goal to get rich in real estate - to buy one house a month and to quit my job.

@Jonathan West - If the purchase agreement doesn't' require a copy of reports, then it should be a minor or non-issue, just ask for the $ back and provide a copy of the report after funds are returned.  

If you think a LLC without this insurance is protecting you, think about who it is that will be funding that LLC's legal defense. 

It's not a desirable suburb of Spartanburg.

Then you can invest in real estate directly with these funds with tax benefits.

I know of a potential deal in Los Alamos, where a home is being foreclosed on in a very desirable area.

- If you want, you can take the $2k upfront by funding $98k, that's what a lot of lenders do.- I would get a lender's title insurance policy to make sure you are indeed in first position and the person/entity you are lending to is the owner.- Borrower pays all closing costs, usually subtracted from loan proceeds upfront.- Make sure the interest plus points doesn't exceed usury in your state, I don't know what it is in Florida.

They would be using our funds to purchase and flip.I am looking for advice from other investors out there regarding Investor Loan Agreements and how to structure them to protect ourselves and ensure we can get our funds back should something go wrong.

The largest hedge funds have been doing this for years and years.