I settled on one vendor that met most of my requirements and one that I could work with as I grew my portfolio.

They grew too quickly and started "cutting" corners and not knowing how to scale.

My partner and I are just beginning our REI ventures here in Baltimore, but I grew up here and lived in over a dozen neighborhoods -- good and bad.

In 2010, the county's population was 268,685, and it grew to 388,656 in 2020.

I grew up in a city where this was pretty common, I have personally never done it but I have seen people have a lot of success @Benjamin A Ersing. 

The application and underwriting process is also less stringent compared to traditional lending sources.If you’re looking to understand the differences between hard money and private money more in depth and want to pursue one of these strategies, you can check out the article I wrote here which goes into more detail on the differences between the two:https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/67/topics/1142068-the-investors-guide-to-private-loans-vs-hard-money-loansAs I grew my toolkit and did more deals, I used creative financing.

It feels like you could find a quality tenant there, and once the light rail reaches Issaquah the desirability only rise.I grew up in Del Mar California and watched thousands of units of housing developments get built in the 80's and 90's. 

He wasn’t in the picture so I grew up without parents .

So, I grew up there, and now I just live an hour north in Raleigh.  

Grew up out there in Pacifica, lived in surrounding towns.