There's an article on making offers on a Fred Mac REO and it mentions that offering 20% down will get your offer accepted quicker than going with less down.

But I would emphasize that you just want to make be able to help her quicker and this would allow you to do that.

Stay active and engage the community, those that do get down the path much quicker.

You could take the profit and pay it down quicker if needed or start saving it up a down payment on something else.

To start off, I don't tell them that I plan to purchase the property because I don't have the courage to do so but in the mean time, I'd like the build that courage by being able to make sense of the T12 so when I feel the time is right, I can make a quicker decision based on what I've learned and the information being shown to me.

I simply figured I would get a quicker response on here. :)@Dave Hurt - How has the direct mail for rentals worked for you?

As Lee mentioned, investing out of state may secure your goals much quicker. 

If you want to pay down your mortgage quicker, then go ahead and do so.

“The idea with the new legislation is to streamline the process and get people with illegal suites to come forward and legalize them, now that it’s a lot quicker and easier to do it.”Hayes, who is a landlord himself, was a consultant on the pilot program, and has already reaped its benefits.

I am struggling to find it using the search function (from now on I will subscribe to great threads...so much quicker than searching).