@John Moore: Good point - it's exactly the stage I'm at - I've contacted a few and am waiting to hear back.

If so, at what stage?

I'm still in the planning stages so any helpful tips and advice would be greatly appreciated."

I hope at some stage I can get my RE license as I will save quite a bit in commissions each time I sell a completed development.

It's a nice thing that the town is big enough for a full pool of tenants but small enough for talk about a changing reputation for the property to get around quickly.I'm just glad it's all very definitely real now, and not some theoretical thing in a planning stage that I very certainly intend to do.

After three days of prepping the house, painting and staging the house, one of the agents begged my agent to bring a potential buyer to check out the property before it officially go on the market.This buyer loved the house and wanted to write an offer.

Also, home Depot has a payment plan and I have used that to do rehabs in stages.

Short sale is the only way to acquire it at this stage, you will need an agent or someone who will negotiate with the bank.

I am currently in the "absorbing" stage.

Id absolutely buy it if the numbers worked and I wasnt in the learning/nervous/scared/analysis paralysis stage.