There's one legit PM in town, and then a handful of people that operate out of their homes. 

I think it's legit to pay up to $100 for books (usually 20-30 is plenty) and anywhere between $200-1000 for a course if this will help frame real estate investing for you in a manner that makes sense to you or if you are looking to learn a specific skill (deal analysis, finding comps, financing deals, estimating rehab costs, etc).Anything beyond this is them taking advantage of your sense of insecurity or unfamiliarity.

Who knows about references, I can never tell if their landlord is legit unless they rented an apartment complex, in which case I can easily verify their landlord reference is in fact a landlord.I went over the history of events with them and have a pretty tight case against them.

Even if it was all legit, fired.

No, you most likely don't have to accept this "note" and it does not sound like the tenant has a legit claim in this case.

In LAS VEGAS tons but the average rate for out of casino venues is between 5-10k.

I'm not trying to undercut or get around, especially if they have a legit contract, I just want to know what they have it under contract for.

If your heart melts every time someone tells you they lost their paycheck at the casino, you may not be cut out to be a hands-on landlord.

You could pull a HELOC on your primary to help you cover the down payment and closing costs, that is legit.

Does this seem legit?