Also getting the companies to pay you is rough, lots of scam companies out there that will run up your receivables and then never pay.Real money is in the "ad ons" Anything weird like tree cutting or big item removal.

Like make hovering skateboards (like in Back to the Future) and anti-gravity rooms.

(At exorbitant phone rates, jail phone calls are quite the scam.)  

If you haven't noticed, I'm sorta anti-condo due to HOAs!

A really, really common scam is that I give you a check.

I wouldn't say you're naive so much as becoming aware that most wholesalers don't have a clue or, it could be they are trying to scam you.

This is the oldest attempted scam on banks there is, they were trying this at least 50 years ago.  

Thanks for the insight and I'll stay away and keep working w/ hard money lenders.Just weird because I don't get why people would try to do this since they are the ones "giving away money" and not taking it but people scam for anything these days so not surprising. 

@Jeff Schemmel Politics,anti-landlord sentiment and taxes.

In some part of the country (Mainly in the south east) REA are not allowed to recommend either to buy or not to buy in any given neighborhood because of anti discrimination laws.