I've just finished reading the popular books (The book on Rental Property Investing, Long-distance Real Estate Investing, etc.) and I'm ready to start investing out of state with $100,000.I want to buy homes with cash, but I want to make sure I don't lose money from getting scammed.

When I finally found a buyer that was willing to pay enough money where I didn't lose capital I was more willing to give the buyer a concession because I was getting my problem solved.Even after selling my hell house I wouldn't sell my "good rentals".

If a flip goes bad, you lose money.

The chances of your getting sued and losing more than a standard policy covers is slim to zero.

I understand if they are good they are busy, but I have lost one property so far and don’t want to lose another one.

Buyers still need to comply by their financing contingency terms, have an appraisal and structural inspection within the specified timeframes, etc. and could lose all of the money they put into those things, not to mention they're tying themselves up with a house that may not get sold to them.

Don't do a HELOC for long term just to have the tenant pay it off, that loses the advantages of HELOCs -fast cash, available any time, but floating/higher interest rates- Also, most won't give you a HELOC on a non-owner-occupied home.

Just know you could lose money if the market tanks between now and then. 

The sale price is such that we could sell in some weeks and not lose any of our investment in the purchase. 

Just to add...I'm fixing/flip in highly competitive Tampa Bay(Pasco/Pinellas) and one thing I've done that has shed light on what's happening when losing offers is that I've been keeping track of of each property from my offer to the actual sale.