The reason for this is that as an experienced investor we understand how pricing works and we have our scope of work, materials chosen, and all other decisions made before we start the project.

I've addressed the challenges of wholesaling REOs before, but it bears repeating.One issue you may encounter is that the title company the REO asset manager has chosen may not allow same day back to back closings using Transactional Funding.

The #s sound too tight for comfort/aggravation.I would determine what # you need for the amount of investment and aggravation involved in your chosen scenario, and then make an offer to the bank for that amount (or a little lower, expecting some negotiation) for the short sale #.Basically, if you're willing to walk away anyway, there's no harm in throwing out a # you would actually want the property at, especially if you already have a line of communication with the bank.They say in a negotiation, "(s)he who cares the least wins".

I do not even look at those properties for my clients and move on.I only deal with listing brokers or seller directly that are willing to negotiate reasonably with a buyer and go under contract.The multiple offers, rounds of bidding, then seller railroads the buyer to get chosen months later and debt market has changed is a waste of time for me and my buyer.

Essentially I pay the whole thing, but only for the applicant that is chosen.

So why have I chosen to stay with SFH at this point?  

Payment is between 600 to 1000 dollars depending on your chosen course line.

Also, there is an inventory of SFR's that would sell for $250K that the owners, for various reasons, have chosen to rent for $1300/month.Pets can add $50-100/mo and, in my opinion, has about the best ROI in the business, but is rarely included in analysis.  

Noah,Being a native of NWA, I can tell you have chosen a great place to invest. 

Just focus on that and studying your chosen vehicle and you'll do well!