Thank you notes:there are few business tools more powerful than a simple thank you note with a business card.

Rent one at your local tool place... it will save you days of labor vs. manual removal.As stated above, expect to do some leveling and repairing of the floor when you get done.

If you're essentially doing 100% financing of the appraised value, even living in the place you'll be pressed to get a 95% LTV loan (there won't be enough proceed to pay off the seller financing and the private lender).  

The key is not to pocket the extra cash but use it either to grow, as a downpayment on the next one, or paydown your mortgage essentially turn it to a 15 year mortgage by yourself but without having the added pressure...If you do mockup calculations of how to grow as fast as possible you will see that leveraging is the way to go.

Leverage is a powerful tool in real estate, but it can be dangerous.

I am adding a dishwasher, microwave, and garbage disposal as well as recessed and pendant lighting and moving every other outlet and light switch around.The price I just got to put in a 200 amp panel and move it from inside the laundry to outside at the other end of the house was $3000, but that depends on what the power company makes them do as far as moving the meter and where they are allowed to put the new panel.The price for the rest of the work, which essentially amounts to rewiring the whole kitchen adding a handful of new circuits and some of the den is another $3000.

You may try floor planner...it's a free online tool that you can use for creating floor plans...It's not as detailed as AutoCAD, but good enough for most projects...http://www.floorplanner.com/

Essentially it is designed to be a floating floor system, which is apparently a big no-no on stairs.  

I am essentially starting from nothing; although my family is fairly well off, I want nothing to do with their money and aspire to earn my own.

Yes payments can reset but banks have tools which can combat probability of default and delinquency on those accounts.