Sergey,I have both lent funds from my RRSP to other investors and borrowed from other investors RRSP as well.The process was smooth, the only downside was how long it takes the lawyers to do their stuff. 

I guess that's the downside offsetting the relatively lower hassle and risk.

Take a look at the Case-Shiller 20-city composite index compared to the Cleveland index and San Diego added for good measure:Upside is limited, but downside is also.

One downside I see to my method of chasing the deal wherever it is, is that I spend a lot of time on the road.

I am very honest with my people about the benefits and potential downside.

They almost certainly don't have the upside that a So Cal property would have, but they likely don't have the downside risk a So Cal property would have either.

Do you all see any downside to paying a contractor to take a look and give an assessment?

There is zero downside risk and massive optionality for upside risk.

She’s done several properties for us at 80% LTV with the only downside being 6 months between acquisition and cash out.

So they can avoid making expensive mistakes that are easy for a newbie to make with "do-it-yourself".The downside is that the return will not be as high because there is no ability to put sweat equity into the deals.