At the end of the day, I do see a value in the general education side of many of these guru's, but education, if that is all they are providing without actually helping get your business off the ground, is only worth a flat fee, and it is not $540k, as you not this group is asking for.  

Anything that seems amiss like someone who needs to close from out of the country, anyone needing to close quickly or insisting on a cash purchase, pricing that is out of whack with fair market value for a property, anything off market, anyone sending the wrong amount of money (one fraud is to send more money than they should, then ask for the difference back, the money going to them is good but the money they sent is not), any buyer that makes an offer sight-unseen, or seller who can't meet at the property or doesn't want a sign at the property, anything that seems "off". 5.

Andrew,Ideally, you want to keep that initial financing below 70% of the after-repair-value.

Look for areas with strong rental demand, appreciating property values and favorable investment opportunities.Lastly, connect with other investors and attend local REI networking groups and meetups.

I'm familiar with how to value the SS.

The purpose of investing in real estate with your self directed retirement account is to increase the value of the retirement account, there are no taxes of Roth or deferred if pre-tax.  

You should be able to independently calculate these things yourself using the assessed value and the millages for the various property taxes. 4.

They don't have any real value as far as the purchase price goes.If I am wrong about the assumption, sorry about that.

How did you add value to the deal?

Market is still affordable to get into and cashflow is actually still possible even with high loan to value properties.