Investors made offers to other investors to be bought out at 75 cents on the dollar (pretty normal process in trust deed lending - either stay in the deal until the end - or get out now at a discount.)

It's a type of house hacking that's very effective to get your foot into the real estate investing door. 

Normally, they negotiate with the company and advise you on the loss. 

However going into what is normally the slow season, I am concerned about occupancy. 

In todays environment of back to historically normal interest rates and higher home values - now really is not a great time to buy.

I decided on out of state because the housing market in Washington state, where I live, is just too much for me to even get my foot in the door. 

And yeah, 15-20% was what I was normally seeing as far as an overrun which is where the contingency came from. 

In most cases the existing footings on post-war homes build around Tampa Bay are strong enough to build on top of.

Same way you would calculate it in normal investing - once the property is 5+ units, it gets a little more nuanced.

My dad considered a six month to one year vacancy between tenants normal.