That all sounds fine and dandy but from my experience with purchasing my first home, the bank wanted to a paper trail of where every single cent came from-- I did FHA 3.5%.

For a complete beginner that is trying to jump into their first deal with absolutely little to no knowledge (obviously read books and countless videos, etc), when is a good time to start paying the $100 a month to utilize PropStream?

The house is sound and there's no reason the thing couldn't be rehabbed withe plenty of room for profit.

I am completely new to this business, but feel I have studied a good amount about real estate investing.A friend of mine has been doing real estate investing for about 18 months and has been moderately successful.

Sounds like they are short to close I would ask for a loan commitment before you waste too much time with this buyer.

If you don't have two months or more to wait, then it sounds like your lender is asking your family to give you gift funds for your down payment or closing costs so the funds can be documented.

It sounds like you want to let the person live there for as long as they are alive and then the house converts to you.

Over the following years, I completely renovated the inside and outside of the home to convert it into a short term rental.

Luckily bank agreed to make repairs needed to pass four point.I had to get a renovation loan insurance policy where I paid for a year up front in escrow and they would pull $400 a month till renovations were completed and then I could find a new insurance policy and the remaining escrow would be transferred to the new policy.Paid $540 for an appraisal.

Sounds like my thinking is inline with the broader consensus.