I can only provide advice for future applications: Cozy and smartmove both can be configured to require tenant pay fees for running their credit/background via credit card before any reports are generated for landlord.

Purchasing with a solid HML will limit your initial cash outlay, and your refinancing bank will count your new built in equity as your down payment.

I have an investor that has shown interest and we have initially discussed terms where they receive a 15% preferred return and then we split anything above that (I know this may not be the best terms on my end but I'm interested in the process and it could be a relationship builder, plus infinite return if I put nothing in).

I initially walked away from the deal, but realized that there might be a way to help the seller, using a wraparound mortgage. 

My initial idea would be to receive something along the lines of 350k cash and seller finance the rest? 

Hey there, this deal doesnt make much financial sense to me, im not an appreciation type of guy and i dont know the exact play here, but a cashflow of 183.16 for an initial investment of 27.5k money down means you would need 12.5 years to recoup your initial investment, the market there is heavily saturated and wont provide you much cash flow, if you are already factoring in property management, then you might want to look further away for better cash flow, im in the process of purchasing a 4plex that will cash flow me 1,500 mnthly after all expenses and accounting for vacancy on a 175k loan

Now, let me say, obviously, it doesn't happen like this on every deal and I had a list of buyers I've cultivated over 3 years so it helps to have real buyers in place BUT still its nice to know you're in a business that can generate that kind of cash that quickly. 

I put about $20K into fixing it up for retail sale, with a $15K initial estimate. 

Granted this is a deferred tax strategy vs an optimization strategy, but the end effect is pretty similar if you plan to expand your rental portfolio in the future and pass on to later generations.  

I'm looking for any advice, suggestions, do's and don'ts for flipping your first property.Oh and I forgot to mention, I don't have tens of thousands of dollars laying around that I can put towards an initial investment :)Thanks in advance!