I have bonus entititlements available which I was planning on using to purchase a forclosure property to live in.

That way you get exposure to all the headaches and stuff before you actually get in with your own money.

It helps to limit your exposure if you have concerns about market stability if your a buy and hold investor looking for cash flow and (possible appreciation) its a good place to start.You can always test the market whether its you calling on places similar to the place your looking at buying and inquiring about renting it just to see what your competition would be or posting a for rent ad and seeing how many inquires you get its important to know what else is out there and what your competitive advantage may be.

But what was interesting is I am in sales and have been paid base + commission/bonus for 10 years.

You might want to call an engineer that does phase one's for guidance and to learn exposure liability and worse case scenario and costs to fix.No legal advice.

I have flipped many homes of all different varieties and values, and I can say for a fact that sticking to your guns/rules, having a contract, and including completion time factors with bonus for early/penalties for late and draws is vital.Here is another lesson I have learned I will share here: it is literally impossible to remember to include every fine line detail of every repair item you go over verbally and then place in ink into contract.

or when I sell it , and just put a 22000btu wall unit , and the added bonus it has a swamp cooler now, giving the tenants options to use either one. thanks your advice is appreciated.

Banks typically do this because they want to reduce their credit risk while the loans are on their books in between the time of closing and when the loan is sold to Fannie or Freddie on the secondary market.Lenders like us who have little to no overlays in place are able to do so because we sell our loans to the end investor very quickly after closing and thus reduce our exposure.

I’m using my bonus entitlement, so it has to be above $144,001 financed.

Great question, and since I don't do any wholesaling, I'll let someone else jump in and answer that :) You may however, find better exposure to your question in the Wholesaling Sub-Forum!