I am an accounting professional who works in risk management for a large private banking institution.

Some lenders allow for the purchase money and repair money to be in the total loan amount.If all of that fails, you may want to explore private financing to purchase and repair the home and then exit that loan with a conventional loan.

I'm curious if the seller is a private person or a large company?

This will only work for friends and family who trust that you aren't going to bail on them.For non friends and family investors you can go through the LLC route, although after trying this a few times, I will never do it again.The other route is to offer a private placement.

I'm both a listing agent at times (for private sellers NOT REO's) and I've bid on REO's as well as purchased them.

The down comes from private financing or from personal funds.

You will meet several Private money lenders here.

;) http://100fstreet.com/index.php/2012/04/the-jobs-act-in-a-nutshell-part-iii-general-solicitation-and-private-offering-platforms/Can my friend lend me money to buy or build a house or would that be violating some law?

They use the dealer retail price as their value, so if you buy a car from a private seller, you should automatically be below the 75% figure.

Merrimack Valley Holdings LLCMerrimack Property Group LLCId do the group to get Private Lenders.Just MHO.