Hindsight Critique•Continue to build relationships to increase deal flow•Property manager (Mercer Hughes) is critical to completing renovations and quick tenant placement•Continue to build relationships with private lenders and personal investors•Have cash available to make quick competitive offers Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

I can only speak to myself personally but I've continued to invest, knowing properties may not cash flow much but I've invested in value-add so focusing on appreciation.

If you believe it will continue to appreciate (like most of San Antonio), I would hold on to it even if there's a bit of negative cashflow for the first year or two. 

That seems like a more realistic result than just “talking to the bank” and having them agree to let the arrangement continue.

When you do that, you can get better pricing and leaves less room for error.The best advice is to push forward as quick as possible, fail forward, and always continue to introspect on what you would do differently and then ACTUALLY go back and implement that change (easier to say than do).

I also hope airbnb does not continue to get less host friendly.  

At this point, instead of continuing to pay the interest loan payments on properties that we will never be able to financially finish since the rehab loans will not cover the actual cost of the rehab, I wanted to know the ramifications of returning the properties to the loan servicer, deed in lieu.

Personally, if your market tends toward the former condition (better/normal appreciation) I think it's a fairly safe deal looking at the long term, assuming infrastructure around you continues to support the idea of renting it.

The new buyer brought a new down payment that made me whole and then some, and despite the original buyer falling behind, I continued making the underlying payment on the mortgage with reserves from his original down payment.

Places like Texas where you’re at will likely continue to face significant insurance increases given more weather related events which makes it challenging To pencil, but if you have good population growth, things should even out.