I have this fear that if I tell people the details of a house they will attempt to swoop in and steal the deal.

My fear is that I will present the idea and then the developer will steal my idea.

So my offer wasn't even considered.There are a LOT of shady deals when it comes to short sales, and it usually involves the seller selling to a friend and then renting the house back at a reduced rate and/or sometimes even having an agreement to rent the house back for a short time and then later buying the house back (for more than what the buyer paid but far less than what was originally owed on the house prior to the shortsale).It's crooked as hell, but it's the way business is being done in today's real estate market.

I know I got a steal on it. 

People tend to avoid Jesus' story, however, because the hero is a crook!  

There are 100 reasons why someone may use hard money but if you can get into hard money that cheap that is a steal.

Did they steal the idea from an existing company?

I have a multifamily 'commercial' (6unit) under contract. I am somewhat new to loans. I just got a loan commitment letter with following terms. What do you make of the terms? Any advice or good questions to ask before...

Screening Guest - alot of companies have a screening system in place that verifies identity of the guests so they're not booking homes with stolen credit cards which could lead to them gaining access to your home and stealing your amenities without a trace.The list can go on and on but vacation rentals is more like a job than anything else...if you don't have time to commit or don't want to be bothered with constant calls/emails then I suggest hiring a manager.

There are a lot of realtors out there that might know residential properties / appreciation, but don't know squat about rental rates rental markets in general.The downside of using a knowledgable realtor is that you can pretty much guarantee you won't get a STEAL, but you should be able to find a good "starter" property.