I would have to agree with the comments about being cautious.  

Hi @Ve'Ron Hall.People care about financing and neighborhood as well as the house.Craigslist and Postlet something like:Owner will finance this property:Description, location, terms.Be cautious with Dodd Frank advertising exact terms as RMLO needs to disclose the exact terms.

While playing either of those games, based on the data you have, you can gauge whether it is time to bet big or whether, statistically, it is time to be a bit more cautious. 

Appraisers almost always make deals appraise out right at contract price even if they are over priced a little the only exception is when deals way overpriced so I'd be very cautious if move forward.Just keep pushing seller to reduce contract down to the appraisal price.

Unless you have a lot of liquidity or assets, an investor is going to be cautious to fund a $500,000 purchase for a first timer.To answer your other questions, you'll want to start making good contractor connections.

@Amy Engelhard I would be cautious about low flow toilets in an existing building that did not have them. 

Should start to separate the cautious from the reckless REI folks.But, data trumps feelings and empty pontifications. 

But be cautious since hard money lenders are not only expensive but they are angling for you to fail so they can take your project and the injected equity.

The money cautious part of my brain reads this and just keeps screaming "but you're wasting money over the life of the loan"You've definitely given me something to think about, because it's going against my "tv" way of thinking. 

Be cautious.