@Billy Gulley  I bet you $5,000 you didn't do shi$ nor could you do anything! 

Good luck, I am betting that almost everyone on this site wishes they started at your age!

Win-win as you either get a reference from them which leads to a warm introduction or they themselves say, yeah I want in. 

The market may sour quickly and I would be willing to bet there will be better real-estate deals soon enough.

I can use a kick in the *** to stop accepting these things, and I bet you could too.

Your best bet is borrowing from your relatives. 

This is a major win to help the property cashflow better.Second PRO is I think you are pretty much guaranteed the loan if you have not exhausted your benefit amount.Third PRO is your only out of pocket would be closing costs...  

If you are 18 and thinking along these lines, you are setting yourself up to win in the long run in a huge way.Take control of that house.  

I would bet your property is zoned RSA-5If you are RSA-5, you have a rear yard set back of the greater of 9' or 10% of the yard, not to mention an overall open space requirement of 20 - 30% depending on the location (corner or mid block). 

A win win for both parties is a great formula for sucess.That's my 2 cents.