My name is Thomas and I’m looking into getting my first property to start off this investing game!

@Michael Braxton Yes, we still meet up and have added a cashflow game night as well on the 2nd week of the month on Thur. at 6:30pm. 

@Jason DiClemente is a 700+ credit score required for hard money lending or just the 10% and 3-6 months “skin in the game”?

Real estate agents, property managers, attorneys, etc don't have the skin in the game like an owner does.

I am still new to the game, as you can tell, and the learning curve is steep.

@Mike Cowper I’m new to the game, but not new to building businesses from scratch!

I've flipped multiple SFHs, but this would be my first commercial deal.I've talked to several lenders, but they all have one or more issues, such as needing 25% down when I can only do 20%, proximity of property is too far from a major city (I'm in WV and no city in the entire state has more than 50,000 residents), I don't have any commercial experience or track record, etc.Therefore, I'm now contemplating asking the seller to consider leasing me control of the property for 2 years with an option to purchase within that time frame.This would provide me with the following benefits:allow me to negotiate the upcoming lease renewal of a major tenant,give me time to come up with a larger down payment,give me time to establish experience managing commercial property,give my new LLC time to establish a track record and income,give me time to find a lender willing to work with me.I will also need to pay the current listing broker their fee, and I would need to pay a deposit and monthly lease payment to the current owner.My questions are:Does anyone have experience with such an arrangement?

If you change to LLC, you need to operate 100% via the LLC name or you risk personal responsibility which is exactly what you’re trying to avoid by establishing an LLC.

I am looking to establish a track record with a short sale lender, so if and when credit gets tight, I can have access to funding for short sales.

To top it off, it sounds like Google is going to get into the landlord game by building housing for employees with support from the city.