My concern is the risk involved in getting into contract ex. the tenant buyer not being approved for a loan and asking for their option money back even though its non refundable.

I've been involved in real estate investing since 2005, when I purchased my first property.  

We have a lot of friends that are in Google, Microsoft, Facebook and others also having thoughts about doing Real Estate Investing.The biggest questions we ask them is are they interested to get involved Passively or Actively.

There is work involved and in many cases you'll only come up with mortgage companies and not individuals or entities, but no work/no reward! 

It depends on how involved you want to be with the property.  

Christopher and Crystal,Congrats on getting involved in real estate! 

In my market, each flip involves $100,000 to $150,000 from the hard money lenders and private lenders.

BP is a great place to learn and meet people involved in all aspects of RE.  

Far from your typical REI career (which usually involves more hammers and tenants), but I made it all my own and did it how works for me.

Too often, the classes that teach you how to make money “flipping properties,” neglect to tell you about ALL of the costs involved in a rehab project: Realtor Commissions: Because the seller typically pays the realtor commissions, this could be the largest chunk out of your profit on the backend of your transaction.