The real deal is that CA is a 'slow roll' that ALWAYS appreciates over the long term.  

I figure I could roll that into another income prop and I would essentially be using that $100K as a tax-free loan as it would be $100K less than I would need to finance. 

online listing. was listed at 30k, went into contract with someone else, came back on the market a week later at 25k, i offered 20k. was fully occupied at 3250/mo as a rooming house (potential rent roll was 4500/mo). kept the old owner as a property manager, since the old manager was unavailable after the sale. eventually the property manager was subbing out the collection and thus costing 40% while losing tentants (non-payment, evictions) so we fired the manager.

i have done this twice and am actually in the process of doing one right now. seller finance is always the way to go. only thing a little difficult is that you have to bank roll the entire rehab but if you have the cash or can find it, it is the way to go in my opinion. let me know if i can help. sounds like you have the right idea though. 

This owner doesn't not want to provide any financial statements, the rent roll is kind of sketchy too.

Do yourself a favor and don't turn a wonderful business into a "close your eyes and roll the dice" gamble.Good luck.

Another person posted about making $300k a year in notes and I would guess there are very few people who make that much $ on a consistent basis just in notes. maybe after rolling them up for 10 to 20 years.. 

This will vary between 75% of purchase and 100% of rehab (funded in draws) and 100% of Purchase and 100% of rehab, even rolling the lender fees into the loan.

The snowball effect happens quicker than expected, way to get it rolling!

this exists in WA and OR.. but you still need 20% of the purchase price in cash.so if bid amount is 300k you need 60k deposit the lender will do the rest at auction.. they take a benefical interest in the auction recipet then roll it into a loan once the trustees deed is recorded or sherrifs deed.. so not 100% but 80%