It will have to be cash (or hard money), because a conventional lender will not lend on a property in the condition it will be in for that price.

There are a number of groups in our area, I recommend the New England REIA for a conventional REIA and invite you to attend our free Black Diamond networking group in Waltham, see url in my signature.It is harder when you don't have cash, you will find many gurus who tell you that you don't need money to get started, but regardless of what they say, at the very least it is more difficult.

If that's the case, that will likely cost you more than a conventional loan so if you can't afford a conventional loan then it's not likely you'll be able to afford to use hard money.

I have read on here married couples that keep it separate in order to qualify for 10 each under conventional guidelines.

It seems that is what one would need to do these days especially with lack of MLS inventory.

Rob Padilla If there's a good market in the area and not a big inventory of homes, builders buy lots to build new.

Marc Faulkner just wondering about the original poster's question -- is there an "industry guideline/standard" or convention that a note buyer would buy only a certain % of the note's remaining principal balance -- for example, only buying 70% of the principal balance, or does this also depend on the scenario?

Is the conventional loan appraiser/underwriter OK with the extra duplex building?

If you are looking to purchase with conventional financing you'll need to look at homes that are in a better condition and can be financed.

For one thing many conventional loans don't care about repairs while some are as strict as FHA.