There is money in buying raw land and getting it permitted for build with plans and flipping it shovel ready 

So although the common wisdom or recommendation is to talk to a lawyer (which I did) I'm getting conflicting advice on this whole issue of Wyoming LLCs and the level of protection and anonymity they actually provide.

I am not sure I fully appreciated the scale of risk as I was not aware there are daily fines associated with class B violations.Following closing, I reached out to an expeditor I was recommended and the guy basically took my initial money and did nothing and then stopped responding to calls/ emails - finding nobody will work in NYC without money up front is hard.

Some other secrets are programs investors can use to save money on downpayments or to buy more properties without having to use income like Non/QM (DSCR or Bank statement programs). 

In other words, how would I calculate the return (from a purely financial standpoint) of "investing" in a primary residence vs renting and putting the money elsewhere (perhaps even into an investment property, but also considering buying a business)? 

Just another example of private equity throwing money at bad business model's in our space.  

Private Money Lenders (Kiavi, LendingOne, Private Individuals) Fix and Flip productsWho did you get the loans through?

Always follow the money trail...... 

That's because most appraisers aren't actually looking to determine a real value for the property, but rather just looking for justification of the already agreed upon purchase price.

Putting 20% down really puts a dent on our liquid money but better (we think) than it just losing value in the bank.