What's the best way to start out in REI with cash & poor credit?

[Jonathan Studdard]

I'm trying to customize the best strategy for my first flip given my situation.  I've gotten a ton of useful info from BP and this is where I'm currently at. My credit is in the mid-to-high 600's. I have enough cash to put a down payment on a mid-sized single family home, as well as cover the cost of a whole home remodel if I needed to, but I'd be using a lot of my own cash doing both, an idea we aren't too fond of. I own my home, but don't have much equity in it yet and paying off my mortgage would require most of my cash, so I've ruled that out for now. Where can using cash save me the most money or give me the most profit? Should I try to go for more of a fixer-upper and use more cash for a better rehab? Or would it be better to put more down on a property, etc?