Check and See if Ohio has a association for rental housing that offers a lease that is recognized by your court system there. 

You just recognize that you're sacrificing return on your investment for the safety of owing nothing on the property.

First of all, recognize that you are attempting to make money in a market flooded with others trying to do the same thing. 

IF they are just a "private lender" lending to you directly, recognize that you are diving into a shark tank where many newbies have been eaten alive.I don't care where you met him/her or how nice they seemed.

I recognize that apart from reading books about real estate I need to start and learn more about the specific market that I will be investing in.

Just recognize that it takes persistence and continuous improvement to make it happen.

While I recognize that you are not a CPA and that what you write here is nothing more than your opinion and as such I should be getting the opinion of a CPA such as @Jim Kennedy or @Brandon Hall but how should a CPA be booking profits from flips if not as capital gains?

In talking to a lender recently, we recognized that because I closed in March 2009 I qualified for that FHA "streamline" or whatever it is called that allows me to refi with no appraisal and very little closing costs.

If you want strangers to trust you, be recognized on the internet as an authority.

That being said, Dun and Bradstreet wont recognize the transaction because it is between related parties.