initiate eviction for non payment of utilities if they don't pay

Always good to see investors taking steps to move forward!

Id contact a mortgage broker who can run numbers for you and let you know how much you might qualify for as a very first step.

I am familiar with the history of the area but not so much the current state of affairs - both economic trends and current local initiatives. 

My step mom is a massage therapist and she wants to open her own business. 

Sincerely,Ken Ken-I don’t have any steps or advise, although I too have looked into this myself.If you have an attorney and CPA it might be good to begin with them to find out the pros/cons of doing this. 

Happy that you are taking the steps and jumping into action.

There would be no refinance in this situation since there was no original financing to begin with.As for the credit cards, to get a single card with a 20k or more limit would be based on your credit history, but American Express has been known to be generous with initial limits and credit limit increases after 60 days of opening the account and then 6 months again after that.

Most of the questions here are from folks who've already taken their first steps by reading, and determining what type of real estate investor they want to be. 

My initial thought process was to pay cash via HUD bid process.