Sounds like I'll be lining up a title company and talking to my agent in the morning.  

It applies to every one of them, no matter what subject or topic, rehabs, notes, private lending, etc.Finally, if you are new, you really should use your servicer to do the mods & discuss, though if you do end up talking to them, first, give them the mini miranda/bankruptcy verbage, then ask how much they can afford to reinstate, then how much they can afford each month.

You may have to reconsider your approach to renovations.Looks like we're neighbors...feel free to PM me if you ever want to chat or meet up for coffee, I'd be happy to talk.

This was exactly what I was looking for.I'm going to talk about it with the lender before hand to hopefully draw the funds once the house I select is under contract.

Unless someone can talk me out of out of it, I believe my first step is buying a 2-5 door multi-family for a great deal.

I do commercial only but learned some of these tips when I went to conference and talked with an older couple that had listed high end homes for 20 years.Good luck.     

Talk to him about your thoughts including the fact that you are not trying to step all over him.

2) When people talk about putting a house under contract, does this mean they've put an offer in with contingency, or is this some form of creative financing?

Talk to your lawyer, who will probably talk you out of this.

You don't necessarily need to talk to the listing agent.