I’ve never refinanced before (or utilized any creative financing strategies, although I’ve researched them at length). I

This is extremely simple example obviously life is much more complicated, but a u.s. bond pays 5% interest and pays out 100% of the time.

@Tyler Bond which branch is he at?

Ask and confirm all of the basics like insurance, license and bond.

If a contractor/sub requests for a large sum of money up front... then it should be a big old "RED" flag.You can thread "un-legitimated" contractors with legal threads, but (based from my experience) it's an uphill battle for the owners.If the contractor is bonded, you can file with his bonding company, and hope to re-coup your money back.Good luck

Call the city and see if he is licensed and bonded. ( this should have been done first)  Then small claims court.

I’ve found it’s far easier to raise large amounts of capital from select high net worth individuals rather than raising from small retail investors who have, in my experience been more reluctant and take more time to manage.Reference PointsInvestors may evaluate the success of their real estate investments based on a reference point, such as alternative investments like stocks or bonds.

@Jerome MorelosI am not but sanding is to get a nice smooth finish not necessarily for bonding to the primer or wood.If you keep painting over imperfections you just notice them more and more each time you paint and they get harder to remove later on.

I would add bonds and gold to that. 

Despite what current trends you may be seeing about creative financing and no/low down payment methods, the reality is you need capital to invest in any asset class, be it real estate, stocks, bonds, etc.