In Massachusetts, there are extra tenant friendly laws so be careful when others post advice that although are legal where they are, its illegal here.

The primary causes of being over budget were unexpected plumbing problems which then caused extra problems with the drywall and a decision to open up the house after the original budget was established.

Banks will (usually) only lend up 80% of the value of a home (if there was no existing mortgage in place).

I am usually on that site every day.  

For 300k you can possibly find either a duplex or a house that had a mother in law suite or you can go the usual roomate route and share a kitchen and other common areas.

I usually aviod or assign these but in this case I would consider it for LO and this is what I would do:When thecurrent lease runs out inform the tenant of the new agreement which requries them to chose to switch to the new lease option format or move out.

We're setting all extra cash aside.

I think this is twofold, one because the prices have been driven very high (and I'm late to the party) and the FHA payments usually are also higher (including insurance, etc.), and two because it's difficult to get the FHA loan on a property that is 70-80% and needs repairs, so nothing from my current wholesaler contacts would work. 

After that there is usually a featured speaker on an important topic.

Down payments however, are usually 25-30% depending on the project and lender you are working with.