I am also looking at hiring a buyers rep for my area stretching from Bakersfield to Ventura up through magic mountain to North Hollywood.

I thought about playing the waiting game because the seller is motivated ... but given that all the comps were purchased within 2 months of being on the market, I don't expect the price to drop much lower.Given that most hard money lenders will not fund past 65% of the ARV (at least those that I've seen in Pennsylvania), plus the fees, it looks to me that going with hard money would be an extreme stretch in order to get the deal done.However, I could be completely wrong given that I am new.

For many, even putting up mini-blinds and curtains is a stretch.

Your criteria seems especially well-suited to finding cash buyers. if the list is too small, would you be willing to stretch to last 12 months or last 24 months?

With returns on safe investments being so low these days, you would have to stretch that 1.5 million out to last.

The finish line is constantly stretched to the limit against me with real estate.

Right now $588.00 before Christmas is a stretch for me.

So I am finding that stretching down from 40% to 20% is still reaping great results. 

I see a head and arms stretched but what is the bottom part?

It made me more money, taught me real estate, found partnerships, friendships, etc.My post is not trying to say that I've made it by any stretch but more that I have found the same obstacles as you've stated but put a plan together to get around them and live the life I want.