Another idea is to only refinish the staircase and cover the rest of the hardwoods with floating vinyl plank - we have done this in cases when it was cost prohibitive to refinish (due to required patching).

An REO agent would certainly be the wrong type of agent to bring into this.If a power of attorney floating around is truly a concern, the owner can execute and record a blanket revocation of any POAs she has executed.

that's the pilot in me... and the only water landings I like is in a float plane going fishing LOL

If you're looking for floating floor.

There are some local investors floating around in here, but I'm not sure they would readily take you up on your offer in this way. 

I heard a podcast .The problem is there is too much 💰 floating around and not enough deals. 

@Sebastian E.I once used a balance transfer credit card (Chase Slate 0% for 15 months with 0% balance transfer fee if balance is transferred within 60 days of account opening) to float some money in order to purchase a car. 

If I were flipping it in a few years and the carpets are worn I would opt for one of the "luxury" vinyl floating plank floors.

I deal with a local company that floats concrete under the foundation to fill the gaps and support the house.  

At this point, our company doesn't have that amount of floating capital.