We don't have a ton of inventory in that class, so it's a good idea to explore what is available and see if it works.

My tired eyes didn't pick up the active violation dates. 

The ones who are active in the local market should also be able to provide recommendations for contractors.

I don't spend much time on Forums, but my nephew has recommended Biggerpockets to me as a real estate agent who would like to experiment more actively with investment.

The only problem is that you will now have a payment against it if you spend it (which you would on the down payment for property #2) and you will have difficulty (I think) refinancing property #1 in the future with a active HELOC on it.

Another option you could explore would be reaching out to the successful teams/agents in your area and see if they might be in need of an office assistant or inside sales agent with the ability to move in to being an agent.

It's a worthwhile exercise to explore the different scenarios.

Evenings and weekends is when there's the most activity in real estate.  

For example, hard money, although it has a high rate, you can usually close very quickly and if you have a good deal, you might not have to bring any money to the table.So, all things considered, private money is usually the best for reasons mentioned above, but that doesnt mean that other financing options should never be used or explored.

As of 11/24/2017 I do not know what the status of their current loan is or how behind it is, but looking for what options I would have as far as approach to buy the property pre foreclosure as they still actively live there and the property has been recently updated and in great shape as a turn key investment.