Has anyone ever empoyed anyone other than family in a B&B business that they could then operate at arms length?

There is some savings, but not as much as you might think.Loan types:Conventional (15 to 30 year fixed): will be three loans, as you stated, and property will have to be acquired in your personal name; but you will get the lowest rates (around 4% for 30-yr fixed) and it doesn't matter that you don't live in the area of the property.Portfolio (5 yr balloon or 5/1 ARM): it will be almost impossible for you to get a loan through a local bank portfolio lender, as I've not found one yet that will deal with someone from out of their market area.

Armed with only a face mask, gloves and a shovel.... my husband had to do the dirty deed.

Though, the bank will do a watered down appraisal and they'll expect the offer to be within 10-20% of the appraised value.Now, if the seller is trying to sell to a friend, rent back and/or buy back later, that may violate the "arms length transaction" requirement that the bank sets that basically says the buyer and seller aren't related, don't have any agreements outside of the contract and the seller must vacate the property upon sale.

When estimating the repairs, do you add an extra "cushion" amount for safety?

You can't rent a SS property back to the seller, everything has to be arms length.

It kinda reminds me of the time when the stock market realized that people were investing with borrowed money, or several years ago when the interest only ARM was a product to help keep unrealistically high housing prices affordable.

This would be sort of a hybrid scenario between an ARM and a fixed-rate mortgage here.

All transactions involving your IRA must be 'arms length'.

Offer 10-12% interest and talk to friends, associates, financial planners, and accountants (i.e. advisors that don't get commissions from peddling financial products).Put together a presentation describing your strategy, process, and your profitable portfolio, all pointing toward the safety of their investment.