As a result I'm over compensating and trying to track everything. 

Governments and, the courts, and the well meaning; seem to always fall victim to the law of unforeseen consequences that result from social engineering and regulatory overreach.

Real estate agents routinely engage in lease option transactions and generally make the lease option a compensable part of their listing agreements.

A lessor of residential real property, containing 5 or more units, who has received a security deposit from a lessee to secure the payment of rent or to compensate for damage to the leased property may not withhold any part of that deposit as compensation for property damage unless he has, within 30 days of the date that the lessee vacated the premises, furnished to the lessee, delivered in person, by mail directed to his last known address, or by electronic mail to a verified electronic mail address provided by the lessee, an itemized statement of the damage allegedly caused to the premises and the estimated or actual cost for repairing or replacing each item on that statement, attaching the paid receipts, or copies thereof, for the repair or replacement.

This is because prices have not fallen to compensate for the increased rate. 

Full disclosure, I am not getting any compensation, I am just a customer of their's and want to share my full unbiased experience from start to finish for other investors to base their own conclusions or decision to use or not use them. --- Start of Post ---Ok, so 2017 was the year of knowledge and information learning on real estate.

Everything sounds good, but if anyone has any real life experience or anything concrete it would be helpful.Was victimized a few years ago due to a scam, bc of the scammer being from out of the US the financial institution held me liable, as a result my background hv bn permanently marked and hv rcvd certain restrictions.

If it is overpriced, being within 5 minutes should not be compensated with your money up front.

If you're looking to start in RE by jumping into a full-time role where you can get compensated on other people's deals, these could be great avenues.House-hacking is another effective way to get started as an investor (depending on your living situation & goals) as you'll gain acquisition, project management and property management experience.Best of luck to you on your journey!

The title insurers paid the purchasers, who were the victims of the fraud not the homeowners, the amount of their loss up to the amount of their policies.