If you have ZERO money to put into a deal, what you are offering is your market expertise - usually in the market where you live.  

If you are passionate about something and it is within the public sector or nonprofit field, I would go for it.

So, ultimately, with a little patience I got a huge return for having specialized expertise, helping people and being creative.

John's, and my partner and I are considering some ideas there, especially with regard to the hefty tourism sector in the 'summer' season!   

On a regional and city (like Greenville, NC (GNC)) basis I look at population growth, housing stock age, new inventory (new permits and type) in the next 12 months, job sector (by industry) trends and risks, among other things... and on the parcel level there are another 15 or so attributes that come into the equation.

Your time and expertise are too valuable to drop whatever you are doing and pull some student out of the mire and get him set back on track again so he will be successful.Real estate isn't for everybody.

That's my expertise.

I never pay down payments or option deposits on any of my acquisitions because my seller should be able to see the value that I am adding with my free service, time and expertise without me having to fork out my hard earned money for saving there butt at no cost to them.What we bring to the table as lease option buyers and sellers is that we fix problems fast when in most cases the seller doesn't have any other good option.

The mortgage crisis didn’t hurt as bad as elsewhere due to the diverse job sector. 

@Anthony Rullo when I met Tim, let's just say it wasn't a right time for me to use his expertise and invest with him.