Welcome Gregg,There are two pretty well attended REIA's (UVREIA and SLREIA) in your neck of the woods.  

@Kevin Wood: Kevin, why are you worried about lining up the money first.

Are you pricing based on the pool being a premium? 

The goal is to buy and hold for a few years at least, and because of that, I'm willing to pay some reasonable premium for a better area (in other words, I'm not going for $15K rehabs) where I can expect somewhat better tenant quality and slightly more appreciation over time.

And without knowing anything about your properties, I can't say whether or not it's fair.Fork 4562 seems steep, but again without knowing your information, I can say with certainty.What a lot of people need to understand is that you will pay premium prices when using a CPA, but you should expect premium service all year long.

Pay $xx premium now for the right to purchase with y days for $zzzz.

After that they tried to raise the premium $500 a year.Best of luck!

Lenders won't be able to ignore health costs as monthly debt for individuals paying their own premiums.  

Rehab needed for rental – need to finish previous work started by owner, finish tile countertops, finish trim, install flooring in 3 bedrooms and kitchen, replace broken glass on 1 window, paint interior, install new door to closet, paint exterior, repair exterior wood rot, install new dishwasher, install new oven, install new microwave, clean/clean/clean (pets urinated throughout home).

In my opinion that was your 1st mistake, " He who helps plan the battle never battles the plan" from how to win friends and influence people by Dale Carnegie, a must read.The above means you sit down with the trades individually and discuss there part and ask them what is the best way to move forward and as efficiently as possibly, they will tell you how to develop the schedule and plan, this dose not mean you do and agree with everything they suggest, this give them a say and respect and its there idea, so they think.I have done a few projects and I have never needed signed contracts with the trades, theirs more to managing projects then nuts, screws and wood, you are in the people management 1st and the trades are running there own business to make money, trust me that comes 1st in there minds.Mike