Guess my misunderstanding was with what you were saying is all.

There is nothing wrong with spending money to get leads, do not misunderstand me.

So, you have a pretty common misunderstanding; you don’t distinguish between “good” debt and “bad” debt.  

I think there was a misunderstanding on what I was saying. 

Maybe I’m misunderstanding the situation

Everyone is afraid of saying anything not in writing because they are afraid of consumers mis understanding and getting upset that they can't get what they want. 

I think he just starting analyzing real estate from abstraction but it's a good start, even until now I still have friends at Google that keep arguing renting is better (everyone has their own bias) maybe because he has misunderstanding . the one that really enlightens me is when I understand how successful real estate investors strategize and get the business plan executed, either through direct ownership or through partnership/syndication.To add point above, most money is made with "appreciation" when the acquisition is "done right" (good time, good location, good value add).My granddad ( he knows nothing of US tax code) kept saying this in 1950s to my mom "every time you have a little bit of money just keep buying land because money lost value".....this is my personal reason why I keep buying and selling outside tax reason.

EMD is largely pointless here....what happens is the money gets tied in escrow until there is consensus to release the funds...no consensus, no release....the money sits in limbo for 2-years and then goes back to you, its a lose/lose situation....or you get a court opinion...so, pay $6,000 in legal fees for $5,000...not a great idea...In the last 20 requests for EMD we have submitted for listing clients where a buyer was unable to perform on a deal, the broker on the other side of the table acknowledges the initial request and then ignores every piece of documentation and future request...there is no repercussion...a lawyer might be able to help with motivation here.This is usually a "pissing match" fueled by misunderstanding of how EMD works...Your agent/broker should be advising you on this stuff...Read this: https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-re...

@Jenny Perron I think people misunderstand what cap rates mean.

This seems extremely harsh, so I'm hoping I'm mis-understanding something.