The key is to understand the capital stack, who is in line in front of you and what are their terms.The people who are getting burned may have known there was debt in front of them, but did they know it was short term or variable - did they know all the details to make a good judgment on the investment.If a property had 20 year fixed debt at 70% would you take that over 3 year debt on a variable rate at 50%? 

Maybe it's burned to the ground.

He pretty much burned his bridges with a lot of people.There was one good thing that came out of all this.

I have a buddy who invested in a project in Las Vegas that crashed and burned.

@Richard Bautista could be legitimate, but could also be a "churn & burn" situation.How will you know the difference - before it's too late?

Reputation and referrals matter.I invest out of state, and I’ve been burned by bad contractors before—it’s a fast way to lose money.

Can anyone give me a candid review to ensure that I wouldn't get burned from this VA company  me and my partner can testify, closing our 2nd for the month in 10days, $11k spread that we anticipate 

The loan officer was aware borrowers planned to use it as a portfolio rental so the only thing this "special loan" would accomplish is burning the relationship. 

In the end someone who thought my tenant fully owned the property decided to burn it down for him.

Let's say you burned through $150,000 in appliances and "more costs", ya still have $500k vs $250k.