If I bought this property I would barely make any cash flow since I would use bank financing, and then I would potentially be "stuck" because my cash is gone.

I would think the city would want to try to accommodate potential buyers so that could sell their pink elephants.

Funny thing, we wanted to participate with the rehab & decided to work on the yard, so we planted seeds & grass barely grew, so we decided to hire landscaper to do the grass!

And I'm only barely working the system I planned.

since i no barely enough to ask intelligent questions, I'll start out tonight with this one :) ...i goto har.com and view the properties for sale here in houston all the time. 1) is this a good place to find the best possible deals?

But in all reality, the owner would probably laugh (to himself at least) about the prospect of a barely 18 year old kid with no experience and little capital having the wherewithall to make the monthly payments.BUT, if you have some partners (you said you have some uncles and others), can bring some cash to the table and have a (good) business plan prepared, you might just be able to make a deal.

As a bare minimum he should earn more than he could in traditional investments.

Suppose one was able to just barely scrape together $200k for a $2 Million building, wouldn't you need an extra stash of cash as a safety net for the unexpected in the first few months (repairs, tenants moving out, etc.)?

Whether you are collecting your assignment fee on an assignment or earnest money on a double closing, by making them give you a significant amount of non-refundable money upfront it gives you and them security in the deal.Now depending on how much the assignment fee is, you might ask only for a portion of it upfront, but I would always recommend getting at the bare minimum a $1000 up front.

At a bare minimum, you should have the insulation encapsulated if it already isn't.