We are also seeking a seasoned house flipping pro willing to help us with flips both on and off the show.

I also will be trying to get sellers financing so any strategies on zero/to low-down options would be greatly appreciated.

Lowe's delivers.

This is super low risk in my opinion. 

My property values are low, in the 40s, so no one wants to touch them for a typical refi. 

We've received some quotes but they are all over the board and vary $7k between the low and high bids.

From what I see online, there seems to be a lot of low hanging fruit in those 2 states.

if so $15K seems low to me.

if one has a good friend that is in the contracting business, able to do a lot of the renovations himself. what kind of partnership proposal would entice someone like that to maybe provide renovation at a very low cost?

Unfortunately, the listing has multiple bids with low days on the market.