Poor bank will most like take a huge hit on the property for no one wants to but in this area not even skilled investors.

ThanksCollege can be very useful, and can help you develop your skills.

I however do like your strategy of buying them, renovating them, and selling them to "investors" with determination, emotional investment all combined with poor math skills.

As proper secretarial typing is a necessary skill and to this day I still basically use only six fingers I really didn't qualify. 

Don, I am a Contractor and Investor from Philly Suburbs..I would find out if all 3 guys are skilled mechanics or a mix of mechanics and laborers.

If you're doing a turnaround project with greater uncertainty and skill required to achieve the upside that should command a premium when determining the yield required on the equity.

A wood-worker friend- of-mine, who makes stunning projects, said it right, "I don't have any special skills, I just buy the right tools."

I can't imagine that a contractor would bring more to the table as a partner than as an employee/contractor, so bringing him in as a partner is just diluting your control and your profits.What happens when you realize that the contractor isn't very skilled?

Since I haven't had to deal with a meth lab house (amazingly, because I've had hundreds of chances to have been stuck with one) I would engage with a skilled vendor and interface with the city to make sure the steps to remediation are well understood and the costs quantified before proceeding.

Areas you have market knowledge and access to skilled labor.