I honestly don’t recommend this for you just cause you don’t seem experienced enough to successfully pull this off and the downfall is wasting an investors time, whatever appraisal will cost you, and losing an investor with tons of possible future deals because you bit more than you can chew on your first deal with him.

Would I be biting off more than I can chew by attempting to do this myself?

Of course down the road if this is something that works out and I enjoy it I would be all for looking into more complex flip, but as I get started I would hate to bite off more than I can chew.

Looking on Zillow and Craigslist is fine if you want to buy something off market but from your post that might be biting off a bit more than you can chew for your first property. 

I have a lot to chew on.

Kitchen Cabinets with fist sized holes, an overflowing AC drain that went unreported for lord knows how long, causing standing water & mold growth along the entire back half of the house (hence the water issue), and we found a nice pit bull puppy (no pet policy) that conveniently ate carpet + pad, chewed window casings and doors in EVERY room.

@Brian Ellis I do see this as an opportunity but may be biting off more than I can chew.

I've had a great house in Seattle for me and my family for a good while now.Just to clarify what I mean when I say risk, I'm talking about total financial risk (which is why I'm limiting exposure to a tolerable $50-80K in cash outlay and will be looking closely at liability issues) and the risk of biting off way more than I can chew from a time, logistics, and experience standpoint.

I keep a bucket full of the extra slats from when I shorten them to fit, just in case someone breaks one or a dog chews on one.

Clearly, she can't afford this property, and like many people, has bitten off more than she can chew.