I've been listening to the podcasts and started reading "Investing in Real Estate with No (and Low) Money Down" and looking forward to making my first move.

These guys will cash you out after 6 months seasoning as well, meaning if you get a solid discount you could get all your money back, and possibly more.Private Lender- If you have a private lender that you could offer a long term loan, maybe 2 years or so, you will probably have to pay them a higher interest rate, but it's better then not picking up rentals for another 2 years.Lastly, bring on an partner who has solid income history.  

Finding someone who can work for $150/sf may be possible, but that will surely come with headaches and additional costs, that would also be a project finished with very low end Home Depot type finishes.  

That being said, depending on location/seasonality I like to assume that a hot tub can increase year end gross revenue by ~5-15%.

The analysis has a low offer on the listed prices to make the purchase profitable.  

FYI, if that property is 99% full, the rents are too low.

The idea would be to rent through the busy season and still vacate throughout the year there ourselves.

I purchased the property a few months later after the funds seasoned (aka that big deposit wasn't on the 3 months worth of bank statements I provided for the loan).

You would need some seasoning as individuals in order to demonstrate that you intended to hold the property for rental, investment or business use as individuals.

We made our offer, but learned they went with a neighbor's offer, and that neighbor's agent had submitted the low price of their recent sale as a comp.