They’re super cool and hip but according to every bank in the world they’re not real estate.

Hey @Tony Thomas, I won't speak to the tax side (not a tax pro) but from a bookkeeping perspective, this will complicate your operations (and, bookkeeping as a result) quite a bit.So, ensure you have super powerful incentives from an REI-savvy attorney and an REI-savvy tax advisor prior to making this move.Some of our Clients have implemented this in the past (prior to working with us) and their businesses weren't large enough to justify the complications that come with this type of structure.Hope that helps!

I just bailed the second they asked for a check, but it was super humiliating, because I always thought I am too smart...

Then the Disney area may be a good fit.But if you watched some youtube channel with someone, who seems to get a deceitfully large percentage of their info from selling courses, preaching the dream of massive upfront cashflow that you can then leverage into another down payment next year and so on while exponentially increasing your wealth so you can quit your job and live on the beach in Aruba, Disney is the wrong market for you unless you're willing to invest substantially into super tippy top end theming.The good news if you're in the former camp is that prices have come down quite a bit here compared to most of the country with all of the saturation/competion. 

This is all super helpful, thanks!

So far BP has been super helpful.

I’ve talked with a few local realtors who haven’t been super helpful.

That's super helpful for everyone because you seem to have a lot of knowledge that might be great for rookies who also want to avoid the same mistakes you're seeing.

that’s super cool that you are ur own realtor- that’s smart! 

I have about 3 agents I work with and they are super when giving me info on REO properties.I always tell the agent to put in the contract that earnest money will be given after approval.