If you have an apartment building and the person who manages it would do marketing, for example, and put some wording which might be discriminatory - you're in trouble.The words might sound pretty innocent for you, for example:"nice apartment for a family", "walking distance to the shopping", "close to the church of XYZ".

gifts from family or friends , your 401k 

IE as Wayne states bring in a cash partner.. then you are using non of your own cash..put in the time and effort to find this person then go shopping.

I really liked Cherokee Street with all the antique places and little coffee shops.  

(Disclaimer: I'm definitely anewbie, so sorry if this question is elementary) I've done some reading about using creative financing, however I recently spoke with a loan officer about different ways that I could get a specific deal financed and her told me that it is illegal to get any financial assistance for your down payment (i.e. if you're going to get a mortgage on a property 100% of the down payment has to be your own money that got earned and cannot be money that was gifted or borrowed).Can anyone validate this?

I would love to get together sometime and talk shop.  

Get in touch with a fast insurance agent so you can get a quick quote while you shop it could change the deal quickly.Personally I am not too worried about wood frame homes.

If my client had been using the cheapest lender he could have found, which I typically like to call chop shop internet lenders...he simply would not have gotten the property.Now if it is a less competitive market that is forgiving about lenders screwing up, and will constantly grant extensions to close....maybe having a good lender doesnt matter.  

It's rare but there could be a bank that lends on 10% down depending on the number of doorways you have in your name.You may have luck shopping the deal to a mortgage broker.

Hope your kid tests into a classical or gifted school?