It isn’t paid directly to landlord and the amount doesn’t change depending on your house.

If she wants her deposit back, the new tenant needs to pay a deposit. 

I flip distressed properties in CA and envoked the right of redemption on an HOA Foreclosure in the past.FL Is a judicial foreclosure state so if the previous home owner is able to redeem the property through the courts within the 10 day period, you would be due a refund for whatever you paid to acquire the property.Im my case when I paid then redemption amount, the investor was refunded their capital.

As soon as you win the bid they want the contract signed and the earnest money deposited immediately.

As far as the Car vs the Home, even though the interest rate is higher on the car, the amount is likely actually less due to the tax advantages of deducting the Mortgage Interest. 

If you are not willing to go by a certain amount of money, do not tell them how much you have in the bank, but how much you are willing to pay.

- Re-fi rate: If you hold, do you have a lender that will give you a good amount of cash-out, and is it at a good interest rate?

However, with the appreciation I see a lot of opportunity to cash flow a decent amount with out of state investing.

For example, you buy the place and the tenant could claim the Seller allowed them to paint the walls black or that their security deposit was twice what the Seller claimed.

They will hold the funds, sign every document, cut every check, and receive every deposit.