It seems like KW is the most expensive to purchase, but one of (if not) the most reputable.

@Victor Olaniyi I would go to as many local meetups as possible so you can meet agents that are actively seeking business in the areas you want to purchase in.

Lucy,It does look like you are referring to the minimum interest, or prepayment penalty, of your existing lender as well as the 'seasoning' period of any potential new lender.Most HMLs won't have a prepayment penalty on a rehab-bridge loan, but a lot of long term refinance lenders would require a period of time after you purchase it before they would take the new 'after repair value' (or, seasoning).

I live in California, and am looking to purchase my first rental property in Illinois.

Which by the way, will still allow you to purchase more property and add to your depreciable basis that way.My two cents would be that it is a no win scenario trying to please a buyer with improvements. 

One good way is to list the property if you have purchased it of course.

My wife is an investor friendly Realtor as well, we'd be happy to help with any purchases you plan to make here.

Purchased various sheriff auctions, short sale, and just low balling.

G'Day Carlos,Personally, I think it's a recipe for disaster rehabbing from out of state.IMO you would need deep roots in the specific market you are looking at investing.Or years long experience of knowing the who, what and when in that specific market.I only know of a handful of folks that can do it successfully and even they have been at it for many years and probably still loose money on rehabs to this day, no matter how integrated they are with everything and everyone.A good resources for pre-purchase, during rehab and after rehab's is Inspectify.Always get eyes on site before buying a property or processing a progress draw for the rehab.Much success

(Unless that's your single unit price and then qualifying rents can push your Purchase Price up).On the other side of the river you'll generally be looking at $900k and up for a 2 unit.