I have seen single guys literally walk in at 8 am with a box of black garbage bags and hand me the keys to a vacant apartment at noon.

No car payments, brown bag your lunch, brew your own coffee.

Only material cost was link ties and new poles and a couple of bags of concrete, and labor was around $200-300.

I have been obsessively diving into this alternative investment strategy so that I have more tools in my tool bag.  

It works best with motivated sellers, it's almost like I'm handing them a bag of cash and their problem is solved and they can move on with their life.  

Congrats Jodi,Sounds like you got a deal and times it right Hillary ,I’ve been listening ok’ing at flood deals for a while now , from the deals that came my way the wholesalers are looking for 60-50% of the ARV , that doesn’t leave you much room for error , market correction or stigma of a flood home even in a good area .Take off 10% for commissions, legal  & closing on sale , you are looking at best a 12/20% return on investment .Now imagine if the mold situation comes or contractor goes over budget , you may be stuck holding a wet bag If your plan is a rental than at least you have a plan B in place For the best upside of 20% I’d stay clear Of course if you can purchase at 35/45 From ARV that may be worth considering IMO the Flooded homes are going to be in the market for a while - based on the fact many owners are just hanging on and not paying mortgages .

Might have to bring out the trick bag for this one!

This because landlords collected rents up front and skipped town leaving the banks holding the bag. 

but I we left holding the bag and having to throw more money into the deal or walk after having invested significant cash in the deal to that point.

Found two soggy owners manuals and a bag of silica that had clearly outlived its utility.