In the grand scheme of things, a $90k rehab is not a huge dollar amount, but lenders don't like to take on low value properties for a variety of reasons.

lots of people get sucked into that scheme both investors and buyers.. the issue is most buyers don't have the means to keep the houses going in a husband type manner.In Oregon even a lease option many times needs to be formally foreclosed as a judge with deem it an installment sale.along with of course contract for deed which then becomes what we call a strict foreclosure..  

I realize 99% of the people out there don't have bogus PO Boxes or random vacant homes they collect mail at, but the reality is there are people out there looking to scheme anything and everything they can. 

RE is not typically a get rich quick scheme so you have to look down the road.

And school, will be a temporary situation in the large scheme of things.

The only thing we might do on some of the unique houses or higher end homes is add some better finishes and hire a Interior designer for better tile and color schemes. 

The special software is like $1500 to $2000 and it really seems to be mostly an MLM scheme.

First let me saying to avoid seeing this as a get rich quick scheme I think everyone who came in this business first generation would agree that at one time or another we came into this after listening to late night infommercials that promise riches.

It looks like the Madoff scheme, although huge, was just the tip of the iceberg.This one ripped off a cool $8 Billion:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090217/ap_on_bi_ge/stanford_sec_chargesThe sour economy is going to expose more and more of these scams.

Since you are selling to a retail buyer, it is hard to determine what color schemes and updates you should make without looking at the entire property.