Depreciation should protect most or all of your returns. 

The seller can carry back part or all of the sale price.

When you do that you lose much or all of the benefit you gained before the transition.

I wouldn't have a brain surgeon fill my cavity in my tooth.

It's only the 3-4hr or all day classes that are a charge.

the reason for these questions is to determine motivation and the potential equityequity is what you will be negotiating for if the seller owes $50,000 and he is asking $100,00 you can guess that the potential equity is $50,000 - cut that in 1/2 to be safe and guess the equity is about $25,000 - the question now is how are you going to negotiate for a part or all of the $25,000who are the decision makersWe are here at Bigger Pockets wishing you success and cash flow --  do not get discouraged - this is a hard business to get into and to be successful - take it easy, be careful of the Big Hats out there, have confidence in yourself and study - study - study Charles

If the owner is a contractor, he may choose to complete some or all of the work himself. 

Would that be me (GP) or all investors.

You can also replace some or all of the old debt with new out-of-pocket cash if you like.  

of the 9 deals we have done on our own, and the 25 or so we have participated in, the majority of them included a seller carry back or an equity partner that provided most or all of the down payment.