Hi @Scott Raley,  One of my private lenders uses IRA Services Trust company and I have found they can a pain to deal with if time is of the essence as they need several days of runway and require fully executed wet copies of all documents (e.g.

I am inexperienced in real estate investing and wanted to get my feet wet.

I know with flooded homes you're required to remove all wet sheetrock plus several feet above and then treat everything with mold killer/inhibiter.

It isn't going to do you any good to bleach down the upstairs when you have wetness and mold still underneath the home.

I have changed my niche to wholesaling for the time being to get my feet wet, then will be moving into buy and hold.  

You might be able to apply a class-2 waterproof membrane to the top-side of the roof deck before laying the roofing (shingle, steel, etc) to ensure the roof deck never becomes wet - unfortunately, this opportunity seldom presents itself in a renovation. 

We're possibly looking to do something larger after we get our feet wet. 

Your custodian MUST have the wet-ink signature of the note (and you ought to know why).This all skips the part where you did your underwriting. 

Especially in a wet climate like Houston.

I'm a newbie and am getting my feet wet looking at all the ways to get into this business.