Consistently spend less than you make and then save and invest the rest for a long long time.Any other answer will set you up for failure.

How much can you afford to spend on a home?

Spend some time getting involved around here and you're very likely to find them.

Now take that number and annualize it, and divide it by how much money out of pocket the deal will require you to spend.

you can do it yourself but I didnt have 3 hours to spend at the county courthouse here.lender doesnt care.title insurance is fine.homeowners insurance had to be switched to a commercial policy, but costs the same.

Many people who end up seeking help from churches, other non profits, social service organizations, and consumer rights lawyers have been drawn in and spit out by these so-called 'foreclosure solutions' MLM programs.All too often the promised "soluition" fails to live up to expectations leaving the distressed homeowner in worse shape.... having wasted prescious time and perhaps after spending hundreds of dollars for an otherwise free for the asking service.Do some people benefit from such a one-stop solution shoppe?

To each his own, but if I were to spend days waiting for checks to clear before moving in a new tenant, I would have a lot of unhappy owners.

I decided it wasn't worth spending a couple thousand to get $4-5k out of it.

I do know some smaller licensed contractors, they tend to be very picky about how they spend their time.On the other hand, contracting is pretty irregular, with very slow times.

Potentially, if the tenants are elderly or disabled, they may get an extended stay.