its most unfortunate that you had to go through this deception and theft from someone who is considered a professional in this business. we definitely appreciate you putting the warning out about this character. as hard as it is to find a reliable experienced contractor nowadays its even harder to find one that's not a crook and a liar and that's truly pathetic.   

However, even though we found it a bit odd that the husband didn’t have all the details right away, we decided to move forward with the application process.

Assume break even cash flow while rented which includes a generous $600/mo repair fund. 

Right now, it is incredibly tough to make even a few hundred a month with traditional strategies.

What are some of the best areas or even zip codes that would be good to buy a rehab property?

It’s not something I do every time, or even often for that matter. 

Normally the escrow agent will want mutual sign off even if its clear the contract terms indicate one party should be awarded the escrow funds.

It seems a traditional sale gobbles up half of it in closing costs.We refinanced early last year, and another refi would cost ~$5k, plus w/ the LTV, I don't think the numbers work out just right.Too bad we were too naive to even consider those offers when they were handed to us.

BiggerPockets also has a calculator to analyze deals, and I highly recommend you start this as soon as possible, even if you are not ready to buy.

If you’ve got any success stories, lessons learned, or even cautionary tales, I’d love to hear them.Thank you for welcoming me to this amazing community.