.) + a bunch of contingencies for me to get the property properly zoned, approved, financed set-up and/or investors within a certain time frame, etc. without them turning down the offer as silly and tarnishing my reputation.If, say, a lot was advertised for somewhere around $100k, wouldn't I have to at least make some kind of "earnest" money option of 5% or ?

Most transactional lenders know this and would understandably by leery of funding your purchase.Are you also suggesting that your private money lender, whom you indicate would loan 60% of value, would really let this become a no money down deal by providing more than you paid in say, a same day transaction?

That being said you may be able to get the owner to finance with say a 3 yr balloon and refi around year 2. you have a good track record of paying and will have been able to pay down the loan even below the 75% LTV you are starting at.

He did say a lot of the bigger banks won't offer a mortgage.My initial funding would have been cash.

Hi Joe,3.5% down is FHA where you live in say a duplex, triplex, or quad and then rent out the remaining units.The question you need to ask is do I want to be a landlord living right next to my tenants where they can bother me all hours of the day??

Say a garage was converted to a hair saloon, this can be a gray area but has been done.

If you are new in RE, less than 10 years in the business, don't have a pot to spit in, I'd say you have a better chance at winning the lotery than getting a million dollar bank loan, regardless of what the property is or what it might be worth.Now, if the newbies will come down to earth at say a 100K property, an 80K would be better, a 1-4 property, those are deals that can be pulled down, otherwise, taking this to a million dollar deal is obsurd unless you have the horsepower and experience to own such a property.

You'll be his buddy.Definitely.I see nothing wrong with 70 year old tenants fixing, say, a dripping sink themselves on their own.

We got this house for the low-20s and a similar house is currently listed in the low-80s.Flippers are taxed like any other inventory-carrying business, so really we're not that different from, say, a used car lot that does light work on the vehicles.

After all expenses, say a property is producing $400 monthly cash flow.