Andrew,Congratulations, I bet you learned a lot of great lessons along the way.

I am interested in investing in the growing college city.

Lessons learned?

After graduating Manhattan College in 2013 with a degree in Accounting (I do not have my CPA), I started an internship at a NYC based digital advertising tech company.

Does anyone have experience working with pre foreclosures that could share advice on how to get started in this process, words of caution, or lessons that you have learned while working with these types of properties?

I just graduated college in 2018 so I am barely getting started.As an alternative, I have been looking to increase my cash flow and grow a portfolio in other states. 

Without any experience and a track record there's few lenders that will loan a person money, let alone release funds upfront and trust you, unless you have something to put up of equal value for security. these are valid concerns.. with HML in the past learning their lessons about advancing rehab money until components are in place.reality though is if you are going to be stuck because a draw is 5k short.. then you probably wont get the loan in the first place. you need to have a lot of liquidity to be in the fix and flip business.. 

Lessons learned?

I've the first STR tenant in, even if they signed for 6 months at $4k/month Lessons learned?

I know I had a pre-existing relationship with these folks, however, the important underlying lesson is that forming and maintaining trustworthy relationships is extremely important.