Andy,
I think there's some really valid points here. I agree that Rent to Own has some challenges along with it, however, I don't think it's reserved for an 'Advanced Investor' only. Bottom line: If you don't get your feet wet, then how will you ever become an advanced investor? That being said, there are inherent risks in investing in Rent to Own, as there are investing in the stock market.
If you opted to go the turn-key route, you have lots of support through REIN and the knowledge of good people on the forums, to help you through difficult situations. The other option is to have the RTO company maintain a vested interest in the deal. Because they are involved, they have an interest in seeing the deal through, or fixing any problems that may arise during the term. This can give many investors more comfort knowing this but, also takes away from your bottom line ROI.
The truth is, if you find a good RTO company, they should stand by their investments regardless of whether they pieced together deal and sold it off to you. We have repeat investors who have a great working knowledge of RTOs and require little to no input on our side. They are the majority of investors we work with. However, we cannot assume that we'll always have a steady stream of experienced investors, so we look to groom new ones too.
Generally, we'll keep at a safe distance and 'help' out where needed. We work with the Tenant Buyers on credit repair ALWAYS, regardless of whether we have a continued money interest in the deal. Our interest is our company's name, which the investment was sold under, so it's common sense to do whatever it takes to make the deals solid.
There are only a handful of financial institutions that will touch these RTOs upon completion. These same institutions are laying their heavy hands down in an effort to regulate RTOs more as a valid method of purchase. This is a good thing in my mind, as it develops standards. So I would add, that the success of a deal is very dependent on having all the paperwork(contracts, caveats etc.) set up properly at the beginning.
Don't comply with their standards? Then no financing at the end of the term and the deal falls through.
I wouldn't be too timid about taking on an RTO or two within your portfolio, just make sure you are working with a reputable company who will help you out if you need it. I'm sure you can find one within REIN. That's the advantage of having a tighter knit community!
Good luck.