Quite a list of prerequisites: http://mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org/slr/PublishedStateDocuments/GA-Mtg-Lender-License-Description.pdfSome exemptions include:  Federally insured financial institutions and their wholly owned subsidiaries;  W-2 Employees of licensees and registrants (see Code);  Attorneys who provide legal services who are not in the business of negotiating loans;  Any person performing any act relating to mortgage loans under order of any court ;  Nonprofit corporations making mortgage loans to promote home ownership or improvements for the disadvantaged;  Any natural person who makes five or fewer mortgage loans in any one calendar year;  Other… refer to Code Section 7-1-1001.Bob

You've received some sage wisdom from the people in this thread.

I would love to put a sliding glass door in, as it lets in more natural light, which would greatly improve the space.Someone suggested French Doors, however, I'm not sure how well that would mesh with the Crafstman style.The city won't let me do anything that contradicts with the style anyway, so I guess I can't shoot myself in the foot too badly.

Then if you need comps or something of that nature you can simply pay them a small fee to pull those for you.Also, if you did intend to pursue a property you found through them it would only be fair to work with them to get it. 

By nature, our equilibrium can pick up on sloped foundations.

It was their nest egg for retirement, so naturally, they wanted to get as much as they could.I took an FHA loan on the property, which required an appraisal to justify the loan amount.

Hi @Ryan Scott Isacksen,My firm would naturally 'hit' you with the minimum monthly HELOC payment in your DTI, but there is no seasoning requirement.So if you had a HELOC that you needed to draw to $100,000 for the down payment and it was at 4% interest only, we would do $100,000 * 4% / 12 = $333.33 and put that number in the "debts" column of DTI before we divided one column by the other. 

If they do, it can bankrupt you.Everyone has a different utility function for risk, so this is always going to be a personal decision...You are correct sir ... if there is a huge Earthquake and my properties fall into the ocean, I'm going to have a bad day LOL :) Similar to you, though, it is not my only income stream (though it is a core and my favorite one) and at the end of the day worse case is any natural disaster that doesn't kill me can't take away my REI skills ...

So flipping and wholesaling seem like a natural fit.  

As you search you'll see some of the other things like networking come naturally as part of that process.