From a licensing point of view you will need two licenses, the MLO and a consumer lending license for the company.The exception to that rule is if you are financing a home that you actually lived in for two years or more and it was your declared primary residence on your income tax forms.Even with the licenses go a plethora of compliance issues from Red Flag to Debt Collection practices, and everything in between.

I figured that being an investor wasn't going to be just about sitting home and collecting checks, however, there is more that interest me about RE investing.

Some people actually make a living off of collecting these types of fees without doing any actual business.

I'd like to extend the cost of the water to the lot renters by submetering each unit and sending them a bill (or having a third party do it) I was wondering, who has done this, how much I'm looking at spending, are permits needed, where can I go about getting the best deal on hardware (should I use a wireless meter which gathers data 4 times a day that I can review from home?)

I have no issue being in the neighborhood to do maintenance or collect rent.

No if it's priced right it's a steal for most buyers.The fact the you mention THE RIGHT buyer indicates it is overpriced and the seller is wanting you to find THE ONE buyer who will pay top market for it.So it is either a steal or it is not.Usually that market is slow moving as those are move up homes and many buyers are underwater in their current homes.Research in your area WHAT IS SELLING.I focus on what buyer are wanting to buy in the marketplace and NOT what sellers are wanting to sell.Your MLS will have data on what product type is moving.Expensive homes have a bunch of outlay in marketing costs so the listing should not be taken lightly.Some friends that have been selling upper end homes for years provide basic marketing and anything additional make the seller pay for it and keep the receipts.Then when it sells they credit the seller off of their commission.This way if the seller wants to take off the market early or change brokers/agents and not give you the average marketing time to sell it they are out the money and not you.It makes the seller think long and hard about correct pricing when it is THEIR money on the line.

Nate, Enforceable and collectable are two different things.

Stupid question here, but when assigning your position on a L/O to either the tenant buyer or back to the seller, how do you collect on the deal?

You can just collect the rent and deal with the pet problem once they leave.

Additionally, you can ask your title company or attorney to collect the keys as they too have a responsibility to pass possession to you.Someone staying in your house can be done by anyone short sale or not.