@Joseph GarnerThe more skin in the game you have, the less likely you are to walk away from the loan if it goes south. 

Zerohedge is interesting site... lots of data there.

Those are the two thing that I want most with this real estate game is Fix & Flips, and Landlord. 

I am new to this site but very familiar with most forum software platforms. 

Hello and welcome to this site Chad! 

You draw from the escrow account as you complete phases of work. (5K after exterior is complete, 5K after Rough Electrical and Plumbing, 5K after flooring, cabinets, etc. 10K at completion) This protects you and the lender from a contractor taking off with your cash and not even hammering a nail at the job site.

But as a former employee of VRBO (when the original founders owned the company and I was part of the team that helped build the site to what it is today) I obviously am proud that "VRBO" has become a noun as well as a verb in this industry. :-)We purchased our 1st STR in Summit County, CO in 2012 and since then have bought a new STR property every 2 years since, with the exception of 2017 when we bought a home in the city in VA where our alma mater is located.

I'm no expert, but I have made about a dozen cash offers to wholesalers, REOs, and auction sites in the past month, each one the home ended up sold to a buyer paying over asking price. 

They made a bunch of updates to the site that have made it terrible.

It has been my experience that students will flake out on signed leases but not signed leases AND skin in the game (i.e. money).