At some point consumers need to just rise up and state they will no longer be treated in this manner and move on to a company that will treat them right.

Right now, many investors, myself included, are buying properties in what are considered nicer neighborhoods with higher values, higher rent rates and presumably fewer problems.

These are the best books that I've found for beginners for fix-and-flip and wholesaling:------------------------------------------------"FLIP: How to Find, Fix, and Sell Houses for Profit"Rick Villani and Clay DavisISBN-10: 0-07-148610-0ISBN-13: 978-0-07-148610-1"Getting Started in Real Estate Day Trading"Larry GoinsISBN-13: 987-0-470-41862-8 (cloth)------------------------------------------------As for earnest money deposit, it's not legally required for a valid binding contract (EMD is a deposit not consideration), unless the parties specifically agree in the contract that EMD is required or there is an unusual situation like California pre-foreclosure of an owner occupied home (in that situation CA law requires a nominal cash EMD of about $100 if I recall correctly), and some other states have some inane consumer protection laws regarding pre-foreclosure of owner occupied homes.Having said all that, if you are buying from a For Sale By Owner (FSBO), then I suggest using a 0% interest promissory note for the EMD, that is redeemed upon completion of the inspection period or upon contract assignment, whichever occurs first.

This puts your loan outside of residential consumer protection which is why Foreign National Loans are a bit niche.

Just a thought - it may be too time consuming.

The place we stayed on our last visit currently has many fewer bookings.

RichI've definitely seen a continued drop in the market over the past year (about 10% off retail sale prices for the level of houses I'm selling)...but luckily the prices of the stuff I'm buying are falling at about the same rate as our selling prices (average purchase prices are down about $10K over the past year, as are average sale prices), so the profits are staying the same.The big thing negative I've noticed is that there is a lot more investor competition over the past year so we're finding fewer deals; I think a lot of new investors are jumping into the market and bidding up the "easy" projects, so those are fewer and further between.

At times, I wish it was more expensive so that fewer people would use it.

It is far more time consuming, but can be done.

What if they have two car payments, and credit card amd other consumer debt?