I am looking to get into the real estate game early and learn as much as possible, especially about house hacking and possibly short-term rentals.

Bob went to the extreme extent of actually using an alias of Bob Stevens instead of using his real name, Bob Prisco.We do not need to re-litigate the facts of his behavior and all of the other inconsistencies in his communications.

The forums are great but tax pros here don't know all the ins and outs of your specific situation so it's hard to give definitive answers.Do the house hack though!

Hi all, interested is how this is going.

Welcome to the site @Matthew!

It never hurts to call them back to see if they have any idea what they are doing just for the reason you said - if they are decent, hop on that list.

And how did you find the deal?  

Start small and stay patient, as Austin is competitive and it may take time to find the right property.

The other thing is that there will be no financing contingency of course, so you can't get your emd back if the loan falls through because, well, there's not supposed to be a loan.I would just get a preapproval letter and offer that.

Both signed the lease, so I think I split it in half and give it to both and let them go fight it out.