My goal is to continue working at the firm so that I may draw a salary while developing the land, under my own LLC.

Most people that get HML still have to come up with some money, I know when I was looking at different HMLs just to see terms ect they wanted 65% LTV on the purchase, so I would still have to come up with 35K for a 100K purchase.If they are getting funds for the rehab it would be escrowed with draws as const is completed, so they still probably have to pay for the rehab out of pocket at some point unless their contractors are invoicing and not requiring payment for 30-60 days.

I'm born and raised in Pittsburgh, and it seems to keep drawing me back.

Sit down with zillow, realtor.com and craigslist and see if I can pin-point a couple other likely areas with a lower buy in cost.

At some point paint and that should help it feel less cabinny.I'd wait on the sign too, I don't see that as being a retail center where you need a lot of signage to draw in customers.

Yes, our portfolio in 2008 saw a 6 digit "draw down" and so I did make the move based on wanting more control, probably not the best reason!

So I want to wholesale a few homes in order to supply a down payment on a rental property or even a rehab but there always some new law or regulation on the topic that make me go back tot the drawing board.

Would already have a lower cost architect draw plans, then hand plans to contractors to obtain bids from contractor with them pulling permits and then doing the job.Would appreciate feedback on this from anyone actually familiar with Southern Calif. building / remodeling costs.

If just buying the paper, there are no fees associated with the purchase. i.e. if you're buying a promissory note tied to the income stream of a mobile home sold to a tenant buyer, you only need to draw up a purchase agreement to buy the paper and get your signature on there as well as the seller.

I would go with an official real estate contract from the State of Michigan's realtor association even though I know you can draw up your own.