My latest property is in the final stages of renovation and then it will move to the refinance phase (utilizing a HELOC on my primary residence).

The owner has stage 4 cancer and will sell me his house “if” he can live there until he passes, which unfortunately won’t be long.

Yes there is value because it gets you to the next stage even if it is at a slower rate. 

So it can save you 3-4%, but you have to know how to price your property and market it with decent photos, maybe some staging etc. my first house I overpriced, and it sat for two months, so did I really save 3%?

Our lender at Midwest BankCentre was amazing as well as our stager at Stage Right St.

If you you can't have 2 crews working simultaneously on the Exterior or Interior that will automatically add a week to your schedule.Working WeekendsIf your crews don't work weekends that could also add 10-ish days over the course of a month.Planning Stage (Inspections, SOW, Contractor Bidding & Project Prep)The schedule assumes you will be starting the renovation on day 1 of property ownership, which means during the closing period you are performing inspections, creating a SOW for the project and getting bids from contractors so you can hit the ground running.  

I am in the early stages of real estate and am currently trying to learn how to analyze deals.

I have completed the beginning stage of my first "live-in flip" here in Anchorage Alaska.

While I agree cash is meant to be deployed, it's not the rate it earns or doesn't earn in the dry powder stage, it's the opportunity to buy what others can't. 

The spreadsheet also has labor and material cost for mechanical, permits, staging and more.