I am from the Chicago area and looking to purchase my first property in the next 3-6 months. 

Being able to purchase a property with only 5% down means you can leverage your money way more effectively.

Quote from @Rene Hosman: @Austin Wolff recently went through this process of identifying markets to purchase in and he goes over his thought process in this episode on the Rookie podcast about how he used the MarketFinder here on BiggerPockets to find markets that met his criteria Podcast: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/rookie-473MarketFinder: https://www.biggerpockets.com/marketsI specifically only focused on 2 markets (Indianapolis and Fayetteville, AR) before I found a deal using the BP "deal finder."

Makes complete sense to purchase a property that breaks even or loses money.

What kind of investments are you planning on purchasing, and what area? 

I know that something has to change and I want to explore purchasing real estate.

You could sell the AITD to a note buyer who will pay off the underlying at closing - BUT the buyer will need to purchase the wrap for at least the amount of the underlying.

I met with Wicked Smart today and was told they help you set up a lead sourcing system, help you structure creative financing - which is essentially lease option/purchase, subject to and owner financing....all strategies I am interested in learning more about.

If you want to commit dollars to one strategy that will be reliable for years to come, I would pay a call center to call lists that you have pulled and skipped.

There were no bids to purchase it at auction.