One thing you can do is place your letters in fedex packages and leave them in the door.

I believe.Done for years, you can secure your position several ways, with a JV and by contractor liens for labor and materials, by seller financing with a partial interest sold along with a sale agreement, by a second mortgage with a balloon required, or just a sale agreement with a contractor's agreement.

Here are some steps to get started.Step 1) Develop your Business Model (Who is your ideal seller, buyer, neighborhoods, etc)Step 2) Build a Team (Leverage their experience, Realtor, Attorney, Contractors, Surveyor, Home Inspector, Environmental Contractor, Architect, Structural Engineer, Stage, Photographer, Title Company, etc)Step 3) Understand your market like the back of your hand (Have a Realtor set you up on HOT SHEETS so you get automatic listings sent to your inbox and you can start getting a pulse on the market)Step 3) Find a Deal (Package the deal and show supporting evidence that it's a good deal, get an appraisal if you have to) Include the following: Company Bio w/ your team members on it, Property Details, Property Tax Card, Scope of Work, Pictures/Video, Comparables, Financial Analysis, Due Diligence Items, and Contact Information.Step 4) Find Private Lender Prospects- Sphere of influence, networking events, ask for referrals, ask CPA, ask attorney, etc.

But it dawned on me that I might take a few years to build up a profit-generating portfolio of properties to generate some income before doing so, to pay for more building materials and more of the cost of the land up front as well as providing a steady source of future revenue. 

There was a fall, he seems okay, but you turned it into the property policy, 2 years later you receive lawsuit papers requesting $1,000,000, your property policy responds with the $500,000 in coverage, they use it all, you then turn it into your umbrella and they deny the claim for late reporting, leaving you on the hook for the other $500,000 plus legal fees.Anymore, it is getting common for a $1,000,000 per occurrence on the primary policy or $2,000,000 per occurrence, I will always prefer that due to the complications above.Now again to the confusion with SFH property investors, you can buy a policy that covers multiple locations for property and for liability, that is not called an umbrella policy, that is just called a property or liability or package policy with many locations. 

I think its a great idea, Use your PM to give you a rent range pending what rehab you want to do- ie- sometimes, you can upgrade some materials (labor usually is constant or a small increase) and get a lot more in rent.

I used to work at Lowe's so I remember the cost of several materials & appliances.

Although his presentation looks dated, the material is timeless. 

I'm not sure if you have ever attended a REAPS Saturday event, but I have never seen an overpriced guru package from REAPS; they do not bring in those kind of gurus.  

If it were me, I would try and package them up in to a commercial loan.