Why its so important because the appraisal better come back with at least 20-25% equity left over so you can pull the money you used to purchase it and do the repairs.That said, you can use cash, get ahold of a hard money lender ( most expensive option), or get seller financing.  

They asked a few months back about possibility of moving out early, specifically for 2/29.

Can we all go back to like 2018 and buy 7 more properties then fast forward to 2024?

And switching back and forth will cause you to lose many years of tax deferred gains.But you're starting out and trying to get traction to build. 

I had a plumber go over to give me an estimate for converting a half bath to a full bath and he called me back claiming that the plumbing inspector wasn't going to allow him to tie into the type of pipes I have and I was going to have to re-pipe the whole house.  

Made this offer a few times over course of 6 months and gave up on it and the seller came back with favorable contract.

So, here's my story: I jumped into the real estate game two years back and now own two properties.

The first thing a "wealthy" person typically does is buy back their time aka assert more control over their situation in life. 

Which means I send LOI, we go back and forth on terms, then we execute a purchase contract, and THEN they send the financials.

They were just grounded to the receptacle box back then.