Luckily I got him to pay the last  So I did my final inspection on the unit and deducted the damages and returned the remaining deposit.  

Oftentimes my sellers are looking for something comparable to what they would have gotten in the form of refundable deposits if it were a rental, but instead in the form of nonrefundable option consideration.

Also, do I have to do a formal walk through in these processes, or is it about getting my unit back from the tenant first and foremost and then having the time to do all the admin stuff (walk thru, inspection to determine deposit return amount, etc.?)

Or you can market to them saying that you're looking for good homes to buy that match a certain description (insert a description of their house) and give them the grace of pretending like it's divine timing.

popmoney.com is free *IF* you can tolerate a 3 day hold from tenant PAY and the deposit to your account.also provides email or txt message when the request was made, which I like.

I gave them my best offer with $500 deposit, and they countered higher with a $2500 deposit.  

separate dog urine deposits (we are replacing due to the damage and not charging anything towards his deposit, as it is already exhausted). 

If you want to flip without a lot of money - well that going to be a tougher gig - you may want to see if you can partner up with someone who does have the money or maybe you can match funds - either way the point is a partner can open up doors to paths you may not have thought were available.

But yes, if you have 20-25% deposit, you wouldn't NEED an FHA loan (and therefore, wouldn't be required to live there for at least a year).

We then become their "lender" for a few years while they continue to improve their credit and financial picture.That said, here is what I find when I take back the home ( read: evict and/or they move out before the lease is up): new 50-60 inch flat screen TV boxes in the garage, DirecTV set tops in all bedrooms ( that they do not live up to the original agreement with DirecTV and return the rented boxes), all of our original lightbulbs replaced with odd, irregular, different color bulbs in most of the lamp sockets ( a 5 socket light fixture that we installed with the correct bulbs will have 3 bulbs at most- none matching - why?!!)