I'm pretty confident that it was the real landlord.

(1) It is unlawful for any person, with intent to defraud the owner of real property, to engage in equity skimming, which is, to: (a) Purchase, within a 3-year period, two or more single-family dwellings, two-family dwellings, three-family dwellings, or four-family dwellings, or a combination thereof, that are subject to a loan that is in default at the time of purchase or within 1 year after the time of purchase, which loan is secured by a mortgage or deed of trust; (b) Fail to make payments under the mortgage or deed of trust as the payments become due, regardless of whether the purchaser is obligated on the loan; and (c) Apply, or authorize the application of, rents from such dwellings for the person’s own use

I'm motivated because I know if I ever stop working and engaging with other people, I'm a corpse!

When you are an expert in an area and know how to estimate after repair costs, you will confident making offers.

$270K ARVs rarely work as rentals.Are you confident about the repair costs?

That number seems artificially inflated and how confident are you that you will actually sell at that price.You don't want to lose money on your first deal, or any deal for that matter.

From MY perspective and MY EXPERIENCE, getting the first profitable deal (regardless of the investors chosen strategy) is very important in the confidence level and rapidly increases their ability to continue and succeed.

How would you enter the market if you wanted a confidence infusion and a low complexity scenario?

As you move onto the bigger and better deals each new investment level will bring those apprehensive feelings back in different degrees, but you will be building on the confidence that you built from your prior deals and your prior ability to work through and manage your apprehension.

A name needs to inspire confidence and suggest longetivity.