well what I would do is tell the seller the house needs 45k.. and since he holds the first you are improving his collateral therefore its safe for him to take a smaller down payment.Maybe offer to escrow the rehab funds so that if you say your going to rehab but don't he can go in and grab his 25k that is not coming to him in the form of down paymentlet him be in control of that 25k in some manner.. that may work.Its just like when I tie up development ground if I have a very cautious seller..

@Nicholas HeinrichLand that can be developed into subdivision;  individual houses; RV Park; mobile home park; storage units; apartments; commercial buildings; strip mall are good deals.  

I keep getting shut down by the big banks when I tell them I want to develop a partnership and explore flexible lending arrangements...

Your ideas will develop as time goes and it will be easier and easier. 

You could potentially save a lot in taxes and develop a nice real estate portfolio (or other assets) in a tax-deferred account.

For example, a lot of people did not know how to rehab but chose to flip and developed rehab skills along the way.

This what they did: Develop an accurate budget for spending in retirementUnderstand the options available through Medicare and the cost of those optionsReview Social Security benefits, and identify the optimal time to begin drawing benefits to maximize the likelihood that your financial plan will be successfulUnderstand the mechanics behind taking portfolio withdrawals to support your financial needsAssess the impact of a potential long-term-care need on your overall retirement plan

Develop your plan to execute on the value added changes after you close

The taxes are the highest in the developed world and the tenant laws are probably even more unfriendly.

It then developed to $1800 rent for a $530k house 16 years ago. today, a $1.23 million market price house (1800 sq ft) is renting at $3500, and still have demand.