I am confident I can get 80-85k in 3-5 years.  

I don't have experience on what to expect with short sales.I am going to talk to HML and Private lenders when I am confident I will get a 'yes'. 

Having my 2yo son definitely helps add fuel to the fire that was nothing more than glowing embers.3 Single Family homes & 1 duplexAll in stable low B to B+ areas and not far from another investment property I haveSounded as if I'd have one nightmare tenant I'd need to part ways withGross monthly rents $3800 - if I updated the units I am confident  I could at min bump that figure $500 or more a moTax value of properties ~$350k  (I need to get inside the SF properties but $330-400 is probably a realistic market value as is now for the properties retail wise)Owner said they'd sell for $380k and be willing to owner finance for 5 years (w possible balloon payment - I proposed those terms - no cash down)I really need to get into the 3 single family homes and the other occupied unit of the duplex, but drove by them all and they looked in pretty decent shape on the outside -- one of the SF's they just invested $40k in within the past 5 years or so due to a hoarder situation and deferred maintenance so the house has been heavily overhauled - most have newer roofs and were built in the 50's (which around here was a good time period for construction - good lumber, homes are brick etc, duplex built in 1979 - from the unit I was in it's just cosmetically dated which would be no big deal for me to fix once someone moved out to make it more desireable)What I was going to propose is if they would owner finance $380k - accept payments from me of $1055.56 per mo (380000 / 360 mos/30 years) - I'd pay the equity down for 5 years then at the end of year 5 we possibly renegotiate to pay part of it off by myself obtaining bank financing, all of it off, etc.Ideally I'd like to see if I could get them to do this same deal for $350k or a bit less but the numbers work at $380k for me with no cash in.  

There are a lot of success stories out there and I'm confident I can be one also.

Depending on what's in the appraisal, there is an issue of confidentiality.

I am confident I could do a 5% down payment on a $250k property for a lower rate conventional loan, but any more than that would be a stretch. 

That is confidential information between the lender and lendee. 

I was looking in the Deerfield Beach area, just West of Federal and feel confident I can find a 3/2 SFR and be all in at $120,000 including repairs.

There are three ways to broker a deal:Transaction brokerage--which is the defaultSingle agency--which requires the most duties including fiduciary duties, confidentiality, obedience, AND loyaltyNo brokerage...which mean they work with a buyer or seller as a non-representative...which only requires dealing honestly and fairly, accounting for all funds, and disclosing all known material facts that affect the property which are not readily observable. 

I have a few years of management experience and feel confident I can easily add this property to my portfolio.Thanks in advance for any input!