@Juan Jackson So for my tsp roth which I have 66k in I have made 11k from it so 55k principle.

You also don't want to get into the game of discounting rent. 

You'll find that quite a few engineers turn to real estate as it's just a numbers game and we're all good at math.

I started investing in real estate about 18 months ago but I have acquired 7 single family homes that I manage myself so just Get In The Game and GO FOR IT!

bottom line is they talk a great game give you terms that you think you found a fold mine..etc.. nothing more than a sophisticated Nigerian  prince scam.

@Karan Malhotra I think @Jay Hinrichs and I are on different pages of the same book.I was probably getting too far in to the weeds to stick with the "general requirements" theme @Timothy Albright set up.I was simply putting the info out there that a hard money lender is going to require some "skin in the game".

I have been talking to my mom about buying her house in Round Rock Texas that she currently lives in.  I

seems like that is a bank refi situation not a raise private money so the owners have little to no skin in the game

BiggerPockets forums is a great start, listen to podcasts on away games and gym workouts, join a local REIA in your area, jump on some webinars.  

They have more skin in the game then you do.Make sure you get clear title.