All I walked away with was that it's a clever and convoluted formula, and basically that loans can be very evil, but obviously there's not always a way to get around them.

My goal at the time was to surround myself in the industry so that I can learn and basically live and breathe RE.

Can anyone explain to me the basics of wholesaling?

I'm basically looking to make sure I'm on the right track of thinking before jumping in.As background, my wife and I own our house.

Not sure what you can legally do in California James but I would certainly get her some pepper spray and basic defense training.

Thanks for all the welcomes guys, basically I started about 4 years ago when I borrowed some money from a relative and purchased a fixer upper.

Aside from meeting basic legal requirements for any contract, everything else is entirely optional, including the security deposit amount.

Basically, from the lender's point of view, your friend (their borrower) could be in this just to split the $90k with you.

If you want to get into the rental property business, study the business to learn the basics before you buy and then start small!

Also, if you can demonstrate that the value is less as a direct result of their actions, I would think you could recover your half of that loss as well.I would recommend doing as much research as possible because you are basically on your own.