For instance- let's say ideally you'd want to put down 25% and would be very happy with 6% for 5 years with a balloon and a 25 year amortization.

I would ideally apply that strategy to single-family homes to start, then transition to multi-family properties.

And with a good tenant buyer that is willing to pay in a little extra per month toward the down payment, you can get them to work... and ultimately collect your profit on the backend, or on the second and third lease option tenants if that plays out.The clear advantage of going this way is... if you dont find a "GOOD" lease option buyer, you are not obligated to the sellers... just let the bank take it like they were going to anyway.Pre-foreclosure lists are easy to find, and because getting a short sale completed is a numbers game there are often many sellers in that niche that could not get the short sale done, and are going to walk... you can cut your teeth on those until you get your system fine tuned.On a side note... the other way to go is to get a mailing list of absentee owners from your county tax rolls, or realquest.com.

AS you can see, Im lost and would like advice on the best way to go, I would like to make alot of money, but i also want to play it safe too.Or is this even a good deal?

This should be in the off-topic forum.That said, I play FXI (NYSE) against FXP (AMEX).Both are Exchange Traded Funds (ETF's) tied to the FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index.

This kind of leverage is not for the faint of heart, but if you're in it to win it, you have to play big.

Is it possible or a good ideal to wholesale properties that are currently listed with a real estate agent?

A short sale is only one of six loss mitigation options, and playing the pre-foreclosure game successfully requires a working understanding of the other five.

They are playing hardball.

These are not investors buying, these are people like you and I who have normal jobs and are just looking for a place to call home.Salaries aside, you didn't even address any of the other issues that I mentioned also play into the cost of housing.