Simplest thing is to use the standard contacts, write it up, and give it to a title company and they will take it from there.  

I know this is harsh but so is your ignorance, fact is cash home buying has grown 10,000X over in the last decade, sellers have TONS of options now online and they do the simplest most obvious thing any intelligent person would do, shop for their best offer. 

We thought it would be simplest to use the same vendor for both cabinets and countertops.

In its simplest form, you are taking over payments for the homeowner and receiving ownership of the property.

The 20% pass through applies to sole props and Sch E's in addition to pass through entities- there is NO tax benefit to an LLC in it's simplest form. 

my question in it's simplest form is; how can I get my foot in the door?

This is quite a complex question, even if the company and everyone involved were in the US.In the US, the simplest sort of entity would be an LLC.

Wholesaling is maybe the simplest way to get started and it just requires time to learn and a little bit of money to market.

Cash for keys is the simplest way to get them out - and minimize damage along the way.

@Martin Shlakman and @Richard F. unfortunately I have a full time job that's very busy and I've been horrible at time management lately and didn't get a chance to go search for those stores and just gave in and bought everything new from Sears online, actually I was able to accomplish my goal of not passing a certain price point where I couldn't with anyone else, but I should have asked my plumber about appliances discounts, when you're stressed and tired and don't keep calm the simplest and obvious things are not that obvious!