I studied RE development and investment for my MBA, I am the building inspector for the town where I live and I worked as a contractor before switching to only working on my own deals.

I have not paid retail for RE in many years and would not in my high cost market (average SFH is ~$1m).  

I would look at it in terms of whether you can afford a worst case scenario where you're covering the deductible and have a credit line or cash to front the re-build cost and getting reimbursed from insurance afterwards.

I have the home owner willing to do owner financing for 6 months to a year with interest while I rehab it then re-fi and pay him off.

If I were to do month to month , do I re sign a lease stating month to month?

Also, local RE Facebook groups

Basic staging with an agent usually means they give you insight into how you should:Declutter and depersonalize by removing photos and personal itemsArrange your furniture to improve the room’s flow and make it feel biggerAdd plants, move art, or re-arrange other accessoriesFull-service staging is another option if your house needs more hands-on attention.

I would check with Dennis Kahn at Homestead Mortgage or another popular mortgage broker here, Zach Starnes or there are several other lenders that can re-fi off appraised value much sooner than 1 yr.

This is an old thread that was revived with the recent reply, and re-reading it now, I want to correct a couple things. 

Yes we use AI for just that: follow up re-engagement and appointment setting.