His supervisors at work donated him furniture, a TV, items for cooking.

Not a lot of work in that field (tv & movies) in Dallas, but lots of commercials. 

For most of my investing career here in DFW I used to have several REOs that I could look at my leisure, pick one, put 5% down, cash-flow and poo poo the rest.

So my partners are into your third year of flipping houses.  We did 12 homes last year and have done very well for ourselfs in a very competitive market, Tucson AZ. We focus almost entirely on buying at trustee sales,...

Some even leave couch, TV on the curb thinking someone will take them away instead of hauling away. 

I guess its a little more mainstream these days with the TV shows- I do drop "I buy and sell houses for a living" sometimes, which gets "oh, you're a flipper?"

Watch TV ads for luxury brands and they're all touting their automation.  

If you purchase the right properties low enough, I've used bank financing and received a check at closing to do the repairs etc....Otherwise get creative...Good luck and ...I AM NOT AN ATTORNEY OR CPA, NOR DO I PLAY ONE ON TV.

Other options is owner financing, lease options, and airbnb Not sure if this applies but maybe corporate housing, registering home to film commission of the state for movie, tv, and photo shoots, and rent out your roof to energy companies.

TV and Radio, websites, etc are often ignored, but almost never produce a negative reaction from someone.