Hi everyone,My in-laws are gifting money to my wife and I toward the down payment on our first home.

You can definitely find great value with your investment in Southbridge but it is not the easiest to find quality tenants.  

It's easiest with properties that need some work.

California may be a bit different but I can tell you how I would approach this in Georgia.You need 3 things. 1) A title search of the property to see what liens are on it. 2) To stop the foreclosure proceeding 3) A Purchase & Sale Contract signed between you and the owner.There are many ways to get these three things done but to me the easiest way would be to contact the attorney handling the foreclosure and tell them you and the owner have agreed to a sale for $x where x is the foreclosure amount + arrears + attorneys fees +outstanding liens.

If it doesn't define their requirements the easiest way to find out is to give them a call in the morning.

The time you do work at a mindless unstimulating job is the easiest part of making your real life happen.If you are married ask your wife to wack you in the back of the head on the way out the door in the morning and shout " repeat after me honey.......I LOVE MY JOB." see you for supper.

I think the most cost effective and easiest way is to create a standard design for rentals especially.

I recommend that you start with a Capital One credit card, they are the easiest to qualify for without a deposit also known as a secured credit card.  

It will probably be easiest to put flooring over top of whatever you have up in the attic.

Max LTV is 70-75%, an fico needs to be above 620-650...but one of the easiest loans I've done in years.