We have found through our experience that these price points help provide a higher quality home (age, location, school district, curb appeal, crime rate, median household income, lower maintenance profile, appreciation potential, etc.) and a higher quality tenant (fiscally more responsible, less transient, strong job security, etc).I hope this helps give some clarity to our business and please let me know if i can be of assistance.Sincerely,Michael Finn

Jamie,you have some details correct and some mixed up a bit - let me help.There are 4 components to a property - let us use a single family home as an example.There is the house - bricks and sticks.There is the deed - who owns the propertyThere is usually a note and mortgage - the Note is the promise, the Mortgage Secures the promiseThere is occupancy.Most people think these are all in the same and sometimes they are - in our instance, they are not. 123 Main St is the physical address.

For example, if you do not put the name & address of the bank in which the separate account you have for the security deposits, in the lease, you owe 3 times the deposit to the tenant.

Because the seller has a security interest, they can foreclose if the buyer doesn't pay.

This still has it's own barriers since title is encumbered and the sale will need to deliver clear and marketable title to a new buyer.When Bankruptcy is filed an automatic stay of collection occurs for all creditors, secured and unsecured and the borrower is protected under Bankruptcy law during the BK plan.

Since I am using HML they will have a 1st position lien on the property, so can I secure the $30k with just a personal guarantee?

Well, yes, but the easy way to spot a financing agreement is if there are any payments or credits made toward a purchase price or amount owing where the title to property secures the obligation or will be expected to be transferred. :)

In my market, agents use software programs that let them write offers online and then they can have their clients sign them electronically (using two programs, Zipforms & DocuSign).

I have enough security deposits sitting in an account that I always show enough money for a down payment, even if the down payment is coming from somewhere else.

Doing it as a owner-builder gave plenty of practical experience in managing a non-trivial construction process.Last year, we acquired one more condo in the neighborhood and have been gaining experience with land-lording as well.My background is in Computer Science and have been working full time as Software Engineer for about 20 years.I am interested in networking with fellow investors/tradesmen, especially who are active in our area (Culver City/West Los Angeles).Thanks and wish you all a very happy new year.Coty