Hi Chris,Step 1 (if you have not already done this) is to get your 80% lined up and ready to go.Easiest way to do this is to talk to a commercial loan broker (but they charge a point or so per X of the loan) in cash, but may have access to tons more 80% lenders than you do locally.The other way to do this and save the points in your pockets is to start treking into banks (vs calling them) that offer multi-family loans of the size you want and talking to them about their requirements for the loan (or if you want melt down your cellular calling them).Tell them what you want to buy and they will tell you what they require, (different banks may have different requirements)--then line yourself up to meet those requirements.If you think you will do this with 100% Zero out of pocket--that is a long shot--the correct amount of cash greases the wheels--so if this zero down plan is not working fast enough, maybe get a second job and save up the required money---move back in with your parents, eat PB & J 3 meals a day, etc...Good Luck!

@Jonathan Mednick  I do enjoy this thread.And I can see your point on too much under one roof.. there was a company in Utah operating out of Indy and KC  that did this and they got them selves into a pickle and one of the issues was they were able to stave off bad situations by buying there way out to keep up appearance's until it melts down... and a lot of it stemmed from HUGE guarantee's that were just not sustainable in the asset class they were playing in .. they could do it at first with the HUGE mark ups they made.. but its a robbing peter to pay paul effect.. and leads to were the principals and sales manager are at now which is litigation of a very serious nature.Warranties:I understand how the public likes them and how a TK company can use them for marketing purposes however many TK companies feel that these can induce folks into buying a certain product over another..

Unfortunately he was overleveraged and could not cover his loan payments when the homes prices came tumbling down during the mortgage melt down.

Account Closed  I don't do the volume you do .. but i did 2k plus from 02 to the melt down in 08..

Being from NYC we are a melting pot.

@Ben Leybovich  If you describe " only real deals" or "only good deals like a few years ago"  that was a reverse bubble... you had a once in most of our investing career's melt down of values unprecedented..

The reality of the post subprime melt down dictated that I change my mind and learn how to market, negotiate, and sell short sales.Eight years have past since we made the switch to short sales.  

So even undamaged shingles will melt onto whatever they are stacked on as soon as they warm up very much. 

If you work with a private money lender than these issues melt away.

I am planning to buy a house in Colorado that has a driveway with some significant surface deterioration, apparently from excessive use of salts to melt snow.