I'm still recovering but I decided to get the judgements because they last a while, can be renewed, and earn interest (9% in Illinois).

When my current lease is up I plan to rent-to-own it, that way I can structure the deal to minimize (or hopefully eliminate) any expenses during the lease term, get the loan paid down some more (extra 30k in equity, assuming 2 year lease) and avoid sales commissions.

You could sell it cheap and see if they could let you carry the loan so she could still live there (all repairs figured into the loan) or when you discount the property you can add in extra for your Mother’s moving expenses.

Let's say it takes you 3 months from start to finish before your house hits the market.That's what an extra 5k and 3 month wait probably not worth the outlay.

Back it up by supplying them with all of the numbers, and a concrete plan of how you're going to execute the work and earn them a return on their money. 

It may sound nice to pay a 5% management fee but the extra fees can add up to be more than the other company that charges 10% with no add-on fees.

Better off earning more and spending less to save while you learn. 

Thought provoking for surePersonally after I had enough to live on and few thousand extra no need to try and buy a house a month extra.

,Do you get extra points for large bowel movements left in the toilet?     

Ended up costing me an extra 3-4 weeks before my project was finished.