it seems like their would be too many variables involved in a condotel to try any actually predict cashflow.....probably not a good idea as an investment in my opinion

I understand that risk is a large part of using larger leverage for rental properties. 

NOw on Craigs list you have scammer after scammer.. so I suspect some amount of phone qualifying would be in order.When one is in the sales business.. what is one's time worth.. your time is to sell. if that involves a drive well that's your choice.but basically its Qualify present and close.. has been that way for hundreds of years.when I used buy homes like this  we targeted what we wanted and we door knocked simple as that the only time we went to mail or phone is if they lived in another state..

BiggerPockets has zero involvement with any "summits" coming up, and no events that BiggerPockets is aware of are authorized to use the BiggerPockets brand as part of their marketing.Any events coming up should be considered as you would any other event hosted by other individuals or companies.

Other  programs like Section 8 are more involved and you would not need to participate in that program for your rentals unless you want to, it requires quite a bit of monitoring.

There would be no real estate involved. 

I have not done any deals yet, but would really like to get involved.

It has due on sale risks, like any sub2.  

You will hopefully have a camera run in the sewers to help mitigate that risk, but its only one example.  

Better have some money, some patience and lots of tolerance for risk.