He has also done most of the maintenance on it.At 50 he realized he has little in the way of retirement & needs rental income to ensure he can in fact retire & get through the winter layoffs.

Of course I remember you and all your creative wonder.  

I typically am able to achieve this with no $$ down as I get an as completed appraisal and ensure the property appraises for the $$ I need to buy and fix at 80% financed.About a year ago, I got a great deal on the MLS and was able to buy the property, fix it up and still have roughly $20k of equity in it (at 80% value- DETAILS-bought for $50k, invested $30k, appraised for $125k.

Given we plan on flipping several houses a year, and we are creative types with a some limited background in interior design, we'll likely go with Option C and do it ourselves.I'd be curious as to people's experiences with professional stagers, and whether you felt you got proper value and return on your investment at the end of the deal.

We have relied upon them to ensure we have all the necessary paperwork to improve our offers.

this is definitely a lot harder than I anticipated. getting started is the hardest thing in the world. wholesaling is too saturated, buy and rehab take the knowledge of a brain surgeon, creative financing requires this and that. and someone is willing to "share their unknown secret" all for $97.

Unless you are dealing with true cash buyers who have plenty of it you need to ensure that the deals will fit the financing criteria.

He is considering doing owner financing or other creative financing to make it happen.

May be less of a headache.Have you reviewed your lease to ensure compliance with the Chicago Landlord Tenant Ordinance?

His point is that desperation to pay your bills will lead to greater financial creativity.