They provide peace of mind for first time home buyers.

Also, residents are not always fond of living in a "hotel" type environment - so they're likely to report you if you do begin without permission.  

Otherwise, signing a month to month agreement sounds like a good plan to keep rents coming in short-term while you buy yourself time to evaluate...although if your gut is telling you they are bad, you might want to try to peacefully get them to leave ASAP so you don't run into future issues.  

I'd start by assessing what you know and don't know- what towns are you familiar with, what real estate concepts might fit your skills/ability/environment and then start learning more and more about those strategies.

It's become very apparent his business plan is stealing from tenants, and we've done everything to resolve this "peacefully".

Even though they think that me paying them that much cash should be ok and nobody will say anything since they go through a lot of money, I was just wondering what is an alternative that will give me peace of mind knowing everything I’ve saved for years and years doesn’t get taken away.

I think i'll definitely try to go to the meet ups for Washington Capital Partners, this seems like the best bet, and also provides the informal environment that we're looking for to build this relationship.

Yeah in the short term property prices might come down a little as mortgage rates go up and make it more difficult to buy, and investors require a higher return on their money.But 10 years down the road you have a property whose rents and values have gone way up.Real estate investors only get hurt if there is permanent/prolonged deflation, if they have short term debt that needs to be refinanced in a rising interest environment or if you are unable to cash flow during a short term recession.One of Real Estates big advantages is that it is a hedge against inflation. 

probably a suspension at most and maybe just a don't do it again.. if its the one and only thing they did and especially if it never got to the bank .the major liability here is the person using the phony lease to secure the financing.Frankly investors do this all the time they dummy up leases for loans.. its far more common than you probably realize... and not an issue unless there is a default then its katy bar the door.in todays lending environment the LAST thing you want to do is defraud a state or federally chartered institution..

First I can learn from them, second they will give me some peace of mind, third they will help me more accurately calculate my real world costs and help me negotiate the purchase price further if need be, fourth I then have their inspection report along with my list of cosmetic rehab items to go over with the GC for a more accurate quote and lastly they can potentially save me a lot more money than they cost me.