Also, find the return vents and see if they are filthy, and whether they are actually sucking air from the room (by holding tissue in front of the vent and seeing if there is suction).

I did it a lot in my late 20's and early 30's and have the scar tissue from running and gunning, LOL.

Wholesaling is definitely my backup plan but there's some meat on the bone and it would be a great first buy & hold given the location and a few other variables I haven't found in other houses in my area.I'll keep you guys posted on the progress!

You'll be thrown a bone for your good efforts, but you can't keep all the profits for yourself.So, Bryan, sorry -- kickin' it in the Caribbean and watching interest just roll into your account are not options here!

Make sure there is toilet tissue in the bathrooms and paper towels in the kitchen.

From above replies, I def should stay away from HML because with high interest there is not enough meat on the bones.

All where seemingly butt ugly houses, stripped to the bone!

My friend has several and he advised me to buy homes with hardwood floors/good bones.

It doesn't remove buyers, it removes supply... less supply at constant demand = higher prices = recovery.Beyond that, it could be argued that every time a flipper tries to get a house at a bare bones price to be able to "flip" it for profit, they are hurting the market by driving down comps with their purchase.

I won't get out of bed in the morning for anything less than $20k on a rehab flip, but I work and live in a higher value area of CA so that is a bare bones minimum I expect to make on a deal.One poster suggested some input on some guidelines and here is what I would suggest, again, these are guidelines not hard fast rules:Shoot for a 20% or better cash on cash return - Example, if you invest $100k into a deal, at the very end, you should make at least $20k profit after ALL expenses.