My local code enforcement officer recommended them to me as a cheaper alternative.

@Gerald Boone if you've already tried private money as an alternative, you may want to take a look into a personal loan from the bank or an alternative source like crowd funding.

@John LindenauerA self-directed IRA or Solo 401k will allow you to invest into traditional assets such as stocks and alternative assets such as real estate.

We wanted to pay cash for the timber up front we got much better deals doing this and virtually no competition form the Gypos since they are not sophisticated in these more advanced techniques.

Other tools/techniques to help with visualization: floorplan diagrama bound notebook or tablet for sketching ideasPinterest, IG, and similarSocial sites and forums - specifically where you show different pictures/sketches and ask for feedbackFind someone who is good at visualization and take them with you to visit a propertyPractice visualizing homes you're not interested in.For color palette decisions, it depends on what you're going for...but, any home design site/magazines can show you what's popular...or <sigh> just watch HGTVMake friends with a local realtor in an area you're buying into and ask them what buyers & tenants want and don't want.That should be enough to get you going.

That is a technique that gets a lot of people started.

Hello bp,I found a home that needs lots of work. Its Fannie mae and only accepting cash or 203k. I rather not use 203k. Is there a way to get a hard money loan to make a cash offer, fix it up and refi conventional to ...

I'm not implying that you're wrong - I'm curious to know why you think that, and also want to make sure that you've thought about all the alternatives.

In aviation, we never put ourselves in a box where there’s only one option like having an alternate destination if the weather at our intended destination is bad.

Yeah not looking for a majic wand here (LOL) just wondering if there are alternatives to listsource in this age of Big Data