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.

It was very gratifying to put a quality property back on the market and move on to the next property.  

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.

Given a choice between the three, I'd go engineered, so you have all the quality of hardwood in a more durable product.

Look for smaller banks offering low cost options.

Hi all,One of the keys of effective negotiation is to have some way to justify a really low (or high) offer. 

High demand but low supply