However, it's a little tough in the current environment.  

It makes for an easier environment to invest in

They assume that somehow shuffling around their external environment (their friends) will somehow improve their internal environment (themselves).  

There are a lot of different ways a transaction can unfold and this is by no means an all inclusive list of what happens during a transaction, but it gives you an idea. 

I offer fully inclusive rents @ $425/roomMy New Years resolution was to GET DIRTY AND DO IT and stop the 3-4 prior years of talking and start taking action!

Crap for 1 to 15k per house if you have to just abandon one because it did not work no biggee.. you have lost next to nothing monetarily. keep the ones that work throw away the garbage let them go for tax's.If your sitting in CA or AU or GB  or other foreign countries and you think these cheap homes are going to make you rich.. then your just perpetuating the greater fool theory in my mind... and the end of the day simple logic has to dictate.. if houses on the open market were any investor  experienced or not can purchase them for 1 to 5k  well then there is a reason.. and there is a reason that in LA or SF or PDX or SEA  or New York or Boston or other prime markets that values are where they are at.. supply demand and ability to pay for the asset.Detroit bottom line just needs to retrench.. if its only 700k pop now and declining and there were housing stock for double that.. it does not take a genius to understand there is a gross over supply and the better owners or tenants are not going to live in the roughest and most dangerous areas of the city they will flee to safer more stable environs because there are massive amounts of homes that can be bought in nice areas for 100k and under.

This favors the conventional loan because when you refi down the road, you'll be stuck in the interest rate environment that exists down the road, whereas you'll keep today's rate with the conventional.  

My first flip, I did an all-inclusive bid with my contractor, that included labor and materials.

And if so, how is the environment?

Your contractors estimate better be spot on and all-inclusive.