A Bad option is to use TK. 

Would it be better to go for a lower end home and use a 203k loan to rehab and finance or get one that's not as bad off and start there?

And you should be able to get a 30 year due in 3, 5, or even ten years.Good that you don’t pull the trigger on the bad deal out of frustration.

I hear NJ has some bad squatter laws.

@Steven J Mooney I'm personally okay with buying a property that is a "bad" deal when I close as long as I am confident that I can turn it into a good or great one.

It's sometimes hard for an agent to find what you want if you just give them the general criteria of "between $50k-$100k in a C or B neighborhood"Look at Crime data on Trulia to see where the good and bad neighborhoods are.

For example, we can be especially bad with buying cheap books and leaving them everywhere...so we try to use resources like the library more often or we'll donate our excess.

Or, I look at the overall robust economy, the relatively strong housing market, and wonder if I'm entering at a bad time - but then realize that when/if things crash, that'll be another round of changes that provides for opportunity.Opportunity is born from change, and at 42, I'm old enough to know that the secret to doing something is to just get started, and to keep chipping away at it.Anyway, my short term goal, once I have finished doing enough research and working on getting the overall engine in place, is to get a couple deals under my belt, and get an idea of what pieces of my process needs refinement in order to scale up a bit.

I want to start off on the right foot and not waste time or money in a bad fit. 

Apparently Wendy does not want to keep working low paying jobs and is trying to make a living off wholesaling which I don’t think is a bad idea.