Our financial house should be in order by then with a few bucks to spare, but honestly I don't know how on earth we're going to do a flip!  

Find a good house, buy it with 5% down using an FHA loan, then rent out the spare rooms to help pay your mortgage and expenses.

I am fairly young & do not have anybody to discuss this with (apart from calling an agent, but I am worried about being nudged to sell since I lack knowledge in real-estate)... so I am sorry for the long post, but any help is appreciated.House is approx. 500sq-ft, 1.5 storey so approx. 850sq.ft living space, on 40ft x 100ft lotUpstairs; 2 bedroomsMain Floor;  Living room, Spare room/office, kitchen, laundry room, furnace closet, 1 oversized bathroom.All of which should be redone.

The compact size of this home ensures reduced overheads, and since the fishermen are away for the better part of the day, it experiences minimal wear and tear.You can check out our active listing on Airbnb here http://bit.ly/3tdEq2i What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Spare no expense to make the pictures sing to your prospects.

If you're thinking "who would want a spare bedroom in a home with other people" you never know.

I have known many an immigrant I'll spare you the details but coming to America is very rational decision. 

I get a fair number of applicants who have used credit sparingly for example and who have a SMALL utility bill like a cell phone bill written off on their credit.

I see mostly people using it to add accent, but honestly I'm sick of painting walls and want to stick vinyl everywhere.Downside is if you need to cut drywall then you need to have spare on hand.Has anyone done this that can share their experience?

Those are a great starting point to give you some ideas on how to get started.You could find something you can house hack like a duplex or you can rent out spare rooms if it's SFR.