Hi Treza,Not sure where you are in the process there, but when your ready to exercise financing options please reach out, it's very difficult to find a ground up program for inexperienced borrowers without having an experienced GC sign on the loan with you which in turn is not easy to find. 

I am just starting out as a wholesaler I know of 3 properties that are vacant, before I contact the homeowners I would like to have the agreement so when I talk the homeowners in to letting me  sell the contract to an investor I want to have that ready.

Happy to give you a quick background about the market.The median home price in the MSA is about $350,000, but you can find plenty of rent-ready properties in suburbs north of the Tennessee River for under $250,000 or under.

I have read I will need to use a third party service to make this happen.  

I figured this could possibly put me in a good position for a cash-out refinance when I’m ready to move on to a second property.If I stick within my budget, Philadelphia seems to offer the most housing availability, but I’m concerned about most houses available being in rougher neighborhoods.

House hacking our basement as our first investment, we have remodeled and redone our entire basement and now getting ready to rent out.

That expertise is crucial to getting your house market-ready.

The best way to think about it is you're in the business of renting a property-that business isn't operational until it's ready and available for rent (aka in service). 

This negative position can consume years of cash flow to recover.

The bottom line is this: Concealment is not asset protection, proper (time consuming and expensive, I know) management, and good, prudent, practices (ditto), WHICH ARE ADHERED TO, and insurance (expensive), are needed for asset protection.