This article explains it in more detail, but you essentially purchase the property into your personal name and then transfer it into the Land Trust - this is a protected transfer because it is an Inter Vivos Trust (an estate planning tool) and protected by the St Germain Act.

However, since it was a NON-refundable deposit, it is essentially the same as a pet fee, in the sense that it is earned by the landlord.

I wrote an article with some points I think you might find helpful if you're interested: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/2014/12/23/investing-out-of-state-essential-items-to-vet/

The bank would lend up to 75k and you are essentially out of pocket "0" on this deal!

Further, he would essentially obtain a call option on the property for the amount of the down payment....., if the property value increases significantly in the future he can sell having utilized significant leverage without having incurred liability, while if property values decrease he can essentially default having lost only his low down payment.

The duplex will rent for approximately $2150, so essentially I'd cash flow $237 and live for free a month.

While most professionals can provide basic services, finding a great professional who is personally invested in real estate is essentially like finding a superhero who can save the day when something goes wrong - they have the best strategies and are personally interested in your situation.

This is essentially the same coverage you have, but you pay the entire portion; your portion and what your employer was paying.

Also if you are a nonaccredited investor, there are additional options beyond hoping that a 506B sponsor will accept you into a deal (many will not take non-accredited investors at all, and those that do generally have a very limited number of spots versus what they can accept for accredited investors).Crowdfunding is essentially a syndication that is done online and the SEC approved regulation A+ which allows nonaccredited investors to invest in certain offerings.

No question..... 30 year fixed.... you can ALWAYS make payments like its a 15 year if you want to pay it off faster..... but it doesn't work the other way if things tighten up and making the higher payments on a 15 year gets dicey for whatever reason.....The view point of having the place paid off and now "look at my huge monthly income from it", is very misleading... yeah you aren't paying interest anymore, but you are essentially getting bigger checks each month because you are paying yourself back for all the $$ you used to pay it offWhen you had a mortgage you got a check of $500 each month...... now that you quickly paid off that 100k house, you get a check of $1000 a month..... but where do you think that "extra" $500 came from?