Even when i find a lender willing to give me a loan I'm worried about how many loans they allow you to carry at a time.

I'm not looking to carry on more buy and holds at the moment but certainly open to it in the future.

yes, it is done all the time, ask the seller to carry a subordinated first (moved to second position), get a first mortgage for the difference, or more to walk with cash.ask the seller for 100% mortgageask the seller for Principal mortgage (no interest)give the seller something you have in exchange for the down payment, a car, chattels , trade of a propertyoffer to pay more with a lease purchase agreement with all lease payments being applied toward the purchase priceoffer to pay the down payments in installmentsalways ask for cash back (seller contribution)offer to repair, paint etc for a fee, use that as a down payment.

Then of course, what if a property doesnt rent and I have to carry a mortgage.With flipping, this seems the easiest in theory.

Or, if you can find them, certain newspapers carry the "notices of trustee sales" in the classifieds sections.   

Nothing in the old agreement need carry over to any new one. 

However, the one reason I have not ever financed is that I don't like to over-insure and carry coverage like collision.  

Hi Garry, expenses were: $1,701 foreclosure fees (later reimbursed by borrower), $578 were for loan servicing, recording fees, and document scrubbing and storage.

My guess is that the house has wood siding, which will require some scraping, scrubbing, and fresh paint.

The liens mentioned are municipal and won't carry much of a discount though it does not hurt to try.