We will be living with my parents while we save up more, he gets a good job (he's a structural engineer here) and to help my parents out a bit. 

Thus...usually for our flips, Demo starts fist... so we'll pay in this manner:DEMO BUDGET: $6000- to start: 33%: $2k- progress payment: 33%: $2k- complete: 33%: $2kFLOOR INSTALL: $8000- to start: $2600- progress: 2600- complete: 2800this way you eliminate any grey areas, and usually contractors save so much for the end, and if you pay against the total, the budget will go through the roof!

I do, and it’s not I’ve rehabbed three houses across California and have saved up about 250k.

Just from using their vendor discounts I've saved way more than the cost of the membership itself. 

I'm thinking I can get a home equity loan on my house and use $10,000 from savings, but maybe theres another way to start this without using too much money up front.

On one of the podcasts I remember hearing how u could buy properties in a self directed IRA and was wondering if anyone had any experience doing so in a TSP (thrift savings plan) as this is her savings vehicle for her employment.

This would allow for me to still leave 50% in my IRA and not fully deplete, also perhaps would lead to a greater tax savings?

Alternatively, you can work with a CPA who is also a Certified Acceptance Agent (CAA) and this saves you from having to mail original documents to the IRS.

We were approaching our finals weeks at our University and our lease was coming to an end - so to save us the stress of trying to find an apartment in the middle of that (we had a very limited budget,) they offered for us to stay with them for a month or two for free.

I’m always interested in learning how to maximize my efforts.