Say I do a small mail out campaign to absentees and find a seller in order to find the same house style I want, but for as cheap as possible.

If I decide to go forward, I think a smaller, mom & pop broker would be more my style.

I would be working with the realtor and designer to get their 'buy-in' on the colors/style for a faster sale.Would you sell the place as is, and use the rehab money for the purchase of a second property, or go ahead  use it to rehab?

For personal, I've been using the following:www.codeacademy.com (teaches website coding)www.pluralsight.com (more advanced style of coding and then some)www.espn.com (gotta have my sports!)

it is a great place to live also if you can make a living in a resort style town. 

Coeur d'Alene is more hip and artsy with many small turn of the century victorians and craftsman style homes.

You could start by looking up recently sold properties on Zillow, realtor.com, etc but filter them for validity based on size, style, neighborhood, etc.

Hopefully they see that you're inspired, goal oriented, and they might see themselves in you.  

some were old Some Doors Patch and Paint Some moldings were old style?

Un-screwing the audited financial statement proposal for Title III style raises would be a giant deal too.