I'm looking to buy foreclosed SFH and trying to find the BEST way, most economical, and smartest option to eliminate the 3rd party middlemen. 

Don't know if the economics would work but you could put Allure directly over the hardwood if it's cheaper than refinishing and the floor is structurally sound.

In 2008, during the financial crisis and the great recession our unemployment rate was under 6%.  

I WOULD BE HAPPY TO HELP WITH MY ECONOMICS, FINANCE, PROGRAMMING AND MATH KNOWLEDGE WHILE LEARNING THE REAL ESTATE INVESTING INSIGHTS.I want to concentrate in Buy&Hold (multifamily houses) strategy at first, and then probably get into flipping in order to gain capital for future deals. 

I'll list a few here that I've considered...Real estate bachelors with a second major in:1) Economics?

Maybe the margins shrink a little, but the astute flipper should still be able to make money doing what they do.One another note....if there were some big economic collapse like we saw a decade ago....that is not something to fear.

Case in point, my town house bought at the peak of the pre crisis market in 2007 for $620K went down to $550K at the bottom of the cycle and now is worth almost $1M.

I learned a lot during the economic downturn, however I wasn't able to take advantage of the deals that proceeded it. 

I'm a little conflicted since she has been with the bank for 20+ years, but it was my understanding that conforming loans aren't structured this way since the financial crisis ....

Denise - The North Carolina Triangle is a really good place to be for economic growth and long-term real estate investment.