It’s generally fine for initial screening, but I wouldn’t rely on it alone for final decisions.

This is because markets with the best initial cash flow typically have poor appreciation and rent growth outlooks.However, long term cash flow typically has a tight coupling to appreciation because rent growth typically has a tight coupling to appreciation.  

Hello, great question as I am considering them too, not specifically looking into using any form of retirement accounts for initial investment though. 

What was the initial ARV when you first analyzed vs today?

In the obligatory weekly cleaning sessions, we clearly inform the team what to look for to see if things look 'off'.I'm responding to this specifically because referring to them or their management fee as a “scam” isn’t the right characterization.

I'd recommend reaching out to some hard money guys for more creative or lower initial cash outlay options. 

The unemployment rate dipped slightly to 4.4%, which on the surface sounds positive.But the real story is under the hood.Payrolls for October and November were revised down by a combined 76,000 jobs, continuing a trend of initial overestimates being corrected lower.

They ended up costing me a few grand, so much wasted time, and the terms are not even close to what they initially told me.

I was initially looking for a multi family unit that I could flip or would provide passive income.  

This creates a negative initial position.