Even still, investors will often want equity in the projects.Giving equity to private investors can hedge your bet.

@Michael Dallas this sounds like it could either be a great deal or a suckers bet, and unfortunately, it's impossible for any of us to tell.

In Metro Detroit area, police will not remove these types of occupants (they are afraid of scamming landlord having police remove legal tenants), calling them a "civil matter" forcing landlord to start court eviction process. thats a good question Drew.. but I bet if the police are aloud just a little bit of fact checking and do police work they can determine the fraud very quickly.. 

If the real estate is producing a steady return, you can make more aggressive bets with stocks or other alt assets.

Details here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/521/topics/1214849-dmv-...I recommend checking them all out initially, I bet you'll have a lot of fun networking!

Even if the allegations are true, BP may get mixed up in a lawsuit they can't win against a syndicator with enough money to make you miserable.

Getting multiple contractors involved will be your best bet to get a reliable estimate, though you need to come up with a scope of work.

If not, buying a turnkey, rent-ready property could be a better first bet.

Starting small and scaling up is a tried-and-true path, and this community is filled with people who’ve walked that road and are eager to share their experiences.Feel free to ask questions, share your wins (and challenges), and tap into the collective knowledge here.

So, 400k - 500k sounds like lots of money but if you wanna operate in the 300k+ entry point it get can swallowed up quick.One strategy I'd try is to be a buyer at the auctions, win a bid on a good house, close on it in cash (you should be a great deal under market value) and then get into a delayed purchase bridge loan product which will cash you out a certain percentage of the purchase and supply the rehab funds.