Simply put, the title company suffers the loss and can’t come back to me (seller) to recover those losses.I certainly don’t fault anyone for selling via GWD, but I prefer to mitigate my risk in every way possible when selling and the SWD is just one arrow in my quiver that assists in this objective.

Most banks will not do this, but there are a few niche banks out there.

Scott The Book on Flipping Houses,The Book on Estimating ReHab Costshttp://www.biggerpockets.com/flippingbookLocate and attend 3 different local REIA club meetings great place to meet people gather resources and info.Consider checking out HUD homes for small multi's owner occupied gets first crack.You might consider Niche or Specialized Housing like student housing.

There are some threads on here about how to check up on an HOA and what you need to be aware of like restriction, reserves and operations.I only have one home in an HOA and personally do prefer to own somewhere that doesn't have one.

@Jordan Richardson I always prefer to finance my deals, but then pay down the loans and not refi (unless I really need the cash).

Also, the seller pays the commissions at 4%-5%.Further, if you are using a Big 5 bank, they will expect you to have a 2-year working relationship with them as a business owner, (preferably in RE).

The way we structure our leases requires them to give us 45 days notice prior to move out and to allow us to start showing the unit least 1 once a week so we usually rarely have any gap from one tenant to the next.We haven't had any problem tenants yet since we screen quite thoroughly but if something were to happen, I guess we would prefer it to happen in an average updated home rather than one that's completely redone.Now if we were to start flipping, we would probably redo everything but for buy and hold in our target areas market rent, average to + average condition, seems to work well.We have seen some renovated units in our areas and they look a lot nicer but the rental premium isn't too much of a difference and it seems they take longer to rent out.

@Sabino Gonzalez , I am not an expert in taxes like @Steven Hamilton II , but here are some thoughts.First I believe a subchapter S is the preferred company to do flips in so you can avoid some of the self employment tax.Next have your friend give the money to your company, he will want a written agreement, then after your you sell the property have your company issue him the check for his share and send him a 1099 showing what you paid him.This shows the expense to him for using his money, and is a deduction for you for your cost.

Of course I have my own thoughts on this, which I plan to share as the thread continues, but for now I’d like to here from anyone interested.So, How many bedrooms would you prefer to have in your rentals?

Because I'm new to real estate, I've been buying books and doing research on the local markets in my area.I suppose renting properties would be my niche due to my affinity for monthly cash flow.