Not going to beat a dead horse.

And no, the seller can not make the down payment for you.Some private lender may entertain the situation if (1) he wants the property and anticipates you won’t be able to make the payments, or (2) he is in the ultra high risk lending business , like World Business Lenders and will be charging you 72% interest with no prepayment allowed , or (3) he is brain dead, just inherited a bunch of money from his parents, and is eager to lose it as fast as possible without going to Las Vegas.

I've always been dead set on real estate but don't really know where to start.

If your current car is dead, then well I understand.

This type of individual that ignores or sit on dead equity is no longer a investor, they are cash hoarders.

The chimney probably needs looked at because there was a dead chipmunk in there.It has an old gravity furnace, and old normal furnace.

Wholesaling is dead.

There's a dead bulb on the basement ceiling but it's unclear which of the 4 electric meters it is being fed from.

The big problem with insurance is that it doesn't cover many of the things that tenants sue for; such as mold (that deadly black mold - oh no!)

You can rekey the dead bolts and door knobs with a different key.