@Joe Impagliazzo That was not the experience I had with 97% LTV loans back in 2010-2012.The pricing was the same at 95% LTV loans (maybe not at lower fico scores) most of my borrowers are 700-740 so that may skew things a bit but the only thing that was more was the mortgage insurance premiums.

The house does have a nice kitchen and some beautiful wood work.

If this has been happening for years you've probably got a rotted sill, which is the where the wood sits on the concrete.The wood will wick up water above the water line, inside the wall and you'll get rot and mold in and on the walls.I'm going to guess that over the years, erosion from the hill has left the ground level behind the garage higher than the slab elevation, and you've probably got a negative grade, meaning the dirt from the hill slopes to the garage, not away from the garage.

Owner financing usually comes at a premium, in price or interest rate or both, because owner financing lets the seller appeal to people with poor credit.If you're serious about investment real estate, and just getting started, don't do ANYTHING for at least a year.

For those that own homes with painted siding whether it be hardi board, asbestos siding, or wood lap siding, how long do you go between paintings?

In addition to that, he is telling me that I have to pay the tile guy, the electrician, and the wood floor guy as well(all this work was included in the initial budget).

This includes a property that we staged and listed for another BP member that we got under contract in 3 days;- Got our 2011 business taxes done, and while I have a pretty decent sized tax burden that I'm not thrilled with, our income from last year should allow us to expand our conventional credit limits, allowing us to buy several conventionally financed or Homepath financed rentals in 2012;- Started eating healthy and got my cholesterol down to a safe level -- this will allow me to save nearly $2000 in 2012 on health insurance and life insurance premiums!

ParkingHot water HeaterChimney(s) if any - many older bldgs (even wood) have chimneys.

Googled Shane Woods Weatherford, no quotes and my BP profile is the 2nd thing listed, few more down were several BP forums I've participated in.

Most contractors like to 1099 their subs to get around all this even though those "subs" don't really qualify as such in a technical or real sense as it also eliminates the need to deal with payroll withholding taxes as well as WC premiums, all of which add up to quite a bit in the first place.