I would tell people today that if you buy a primary residence expect to stay in that home for atleast five years, especially with a FHA loan which has lower down payment as the current forecasts for home appreciation or very low which with closing costs on the buy and sell, it will take several years to have equity in the property and enough to be able to sell, so that is something also to consider.

It grows so much faster and that early growth compounds over time, so having a little more invested early on is worth more than a ton invested later.There is a metric called cash on equity return.

It is so important to vet the people you work with.

So they would first payoff the first mortgage, if there is a second then $ goes to the second and if anything above that goes to any other lienholders or the homeowner.There are a lot of people who invest in 2nd mortgages because they are cheaper than a first, but in Ohio (not sure all counties) you have to pay off the first at foreclosure so if you do not have the money to pay off the first you are out of luck. 

If you build a relationship with a Banker you can call and have a detailed conversation about rates.

@Shawn AckermanI've been calling evictions lately and have gotten some pretty good conversations.  

Plus, your proactive steps, like cold-calling and Driving For Dollars, show your commitment and enthusiasm!

These agents work for free till they close a deal, so make sure you know that going into it. 

Taking these two pieces of info will tell you how long you will take to get an offer, so if you go past that you should lower the price, and then the other action item would be to starting off lower than all the other properties if the condition is better than your condition.

I didn’t know anyone in Alabama, so I called a few agents I found online and ended up picking one from BiggerPockets.