If you can find your own trades and have time to get bids and follow all of the work as @Bryan Petrinec suggested then that is one way to shave costs.

The reason for the threat was that I had accused his girlfriend of stuffing a piece of spray foam back in the hole I had cut it out of weeks earlier, after they had complained it was blocking the gas shut-off for the stove. why they were concerned about the shut-off cannot be explained other than looking for something to harass me with.

Using Heloc's looks to shave a lot of years off of my  mortgage as long as I use it like a checking account (all my income goes to it and when I need to pay for something I can take it from there).

I'm pretty sure they're the winner for worst village in the entire state.Apparently, they're philosophy is that you need to bring the homes to new construction in order to pass.My absolute favorite story is the fact that they inspector said your carpeting (really nice frieze) was "too thick" and that you had to shave off the bottom of your bedroom doors in order to pass the inspection.I have never heard of any inspector ever saying something so stupid.

The termite company said there was moisture (they did the moisture reading after they sprayed a whole can of foam, not sure if it matters) in the wall so it wasn't covered because there was no visible trace of termites on the soil outside (there is a brick privacy wall that butts up to the house). 

We'd then get into an undervalued home and shave anywhere between $200-$700 per month in mortgage.Downsides: moving, down payment for other house (5% down), most likely next house will need some cosmetic updating down the road to max valueupside: generates capital with no interest, and reduces monthly expenses.option 2: We are strong borrowers, have w2 income, little debt besides mortgage and 1 student loan, and have established Self employee income.

You might want to considering adding a layer of foam insulation before putting on the new siding.Be careful about the roof tearoff schedule.  

Boyfriends and girlfriends, especially in their 20's, have a high likelihood of defaulting. 

@Matt Schambeau you should be able to have an insulation company drill holes in the wall and pump it full of foam insulation.

That's a $7,000 difference in the level of rehab i can do, and although i might be able to shave some of that off during the project, it's going to lessen the property and ultimately my profits, hence the need to be able to walk away, if my CMA's and my lender's appraisal are not on the same page.Also i'm primarily submitting offers on REO's so adding a financing contingency is not an option.Thanks for the feedback though