It is also a stable market, so repossessions are less common than elsewhere in the state.Your biggest problem will be the lending laws in the state of Illinois, but that is another story.

I think your biggest concern is do you want to sit on a vacant unit for 6 months.

I'm looking forward to networking with all of you, and am always looking for new buyers (including wholesale), as well as finding new leads, sources for private money etc.

I do RE investing full time and is my source to feed my family, I have no other job and I can spend 70 hours working in one week.

My biggest challenge right now is fear of making a mistake and a general inability to estimate make ready costs.

Agreed, upfront fees should be your biggest worry.

Only way around it that I know is to find an alternate funding source other than a mortgage.

You'll have to decide what risk tolerance you are comfortable with and how readily available other sources of cash are if you really needed it in a pinch.I close in 2 weeks on a duplex that has been redone in the past 5 years but the home itself is 100 years old... still not sure how I'm going to play the cash flow as I'd REALLY like to be aggressive for the next 5 years while prices are down and money is cheap.

I am thinking about getting back into lease options to have some additional revenue sources.

All of those are good sources, I would include that the home is in an area that is still transitioning.