@Rob Smith - all great points above.One thing that I didn't see mentioned is becoming a private lender for real estate investors.IMHO - this is the fastest way to grow you limited seed funds.You can easily charge 1-5 points PLUS 12-15% APR for short term loans that are secured by real estate.I personally use a handful of private lenders to fund my wholesale business [I don't do assignments, I close on each property before reselling].I never pay more than 65% LTV and give the lender a Promissory Note along with a Mortgage.  

Private money LENDERs!!!!  

This works well for static investments such as private placements.  

I actually had my value modified a couple years back because it wa significantly higher than the private appraisal I had from a refi. 

I don't know any private speculators to finance deals I find and I need to find a contractor who has the time and ability to partner with this venture.

Or should I use a private lender.

If these were easy, everyone would be snatching these up, just think about it :)  Finally, just knowing and being apart of hundreds of 203k transactions for our private client construction business, this is not a forgiving loan and encountering large challenges with the purchase, may influence your opinion of the simplicity of the 203k, if you intend on using a 203k, perhaps seek something that requires more work and remove yourself from this short sale.

We have done JVs, partnerships, have a network of private investors, pay cash for properties, have a successful history with construction lending, and great credit.

If you'd like to privately share the details of the project, I'd be happy to see if there's something that I can do to help you.

If interested, potential partners can contact me privately or Mike Khesin via the website