Our architect advised us that it would be much more worth it to tear off the entire roof, and since it's something we've never done before, we decided to give it a shot.

I'm leaning towards paying a premium for nicer neighborhoods, but the delta between homes in nice areas compared to < decent areas is HUGE, like $60-70k, and I'm starting with very little capital ($30-40 down+reno).Specific geographics aside (I'm interested in Tacoma, but would love to hear from anywhere), whats been your experience?

However if the person had good credit, decent income, and found a good deal along with putting an additional 5-10% down that now sounds like a deal that warrants an exception.  

Who were the bad companies, and who did you end up with that was halfway decent.  

I'm in South Alabama as well and have had decent success just off craigslist, local fb buy and sell groups, and taking out local ads.

It is a decent corner though.  

I'm from Denton so feel like I have a decent feel for the market and areas here.  

I would not pay $3200+ to get $13k cash, but I do like the lower rate and expedited payoff, although only 5 yrs less.In my area, a 1% single-family in a decent area is a good investment to keep.  

Always looking for creative ways to Invest and most importantly make some decent returns.My latest investment is a commision advance company for real estate agents and brokers. www.poelcapital.com

without more detailed information i will give it a shot... yes many many list sources out there to buy. you can do some google data scraping (very inexpensive)or you can pick up the phone and dial for dollars.