Do you know if the exterior of the house will need to be reduced in width to get the door size needed?

A quick pay off will reduce the future capital lost to interest, unlock the portion of your monthly income that was previously used to service this debt, decrease the risk lenders perceive in lending to you, and decrease the consequences you may face when you end up with a bad deal (those are part of the game and there is really no avoiding them).

While there are plenty of stories of rags to riches after quitting, the odds have you reduced your chances of success.  

Reduce the list to properties that fit your criteria for a potential offerThen contact the owner, but it should not be a contact based on your knowledge of the property going into foreclosure or auction.  

The more you're willing to struggle and reduce yourself to just "surviving", the quicker you will get to you goal. think of it as a foot race, the harder you push yourself and the more you suffer, the quicker you will reach that finish line.

Particularly in this industry.We've found that the largest avoidable cost we encounter is turnover, and anything we can do to reduce it will increase our bottom line.

It is always a gamble you take on any offer you accept.BUT -- to reduce your chances of the buyer not qualifying for a loan, ask to have the buyer cross-qualified by a lender you know, like and trust.

Me and my business partner are willing to risk 100-120k of our personal liquid assets to start REI business and here is the way we see that:-Starting a RE company ( corporation ) to get into flipping in order to a) legally avoid / reduce self - employment tax b) develop credibility of the company for possibility of future financing.

Which over the life of the property, reduces CapEx.  

Closing with cash is definitely the way to go even if it doesn't leverage a reduced price.talk to the lender before you buy so you understand their closing requirements. everyone has different programs so asking the forums won't be very helpful. 6 months is an average seasoning period but you may be able to close sooner. you'll need to know how they set the loan value and other details.