Then half-jokingly say, "And by the way, they're idiots when it comes to rehabbing...so do me a favor and double your bid on their jobs so you can pass the savings on me on the next job we do together!"

Is it favoring Buyers or Sellers at the moment?  

Also not sure about you doing work/keeping cost under $20K...I was truly not going to respond but I'm trying to do everyone a favor by interjecting some common sense on your posts.Sit back and decide what you want to do with this house first.

The problem is that in two years the market can drastically change so it is a speculation play but if it goes in your favor it can be very lucrative.

Owner financing can be great if you can find it and then negotiate favorable terms for yourself.

The one doing the referring is doing those tenants a favor, not us.

Mostly all SFR.This is the guide he taught me and I now use.Though Section 8 is slowing/stopping new Vouchers and the Voucher tenant rent rate is slowly decreasing.Was much more favorable 3 yrs ago, but still good to this day for the right deals.But, Market Tenants may be the new clientele for these rental areas very soon.Especially with Budget cuts on HUD.Good Luck all!

I would not refi the property since the interest:principle ratio is already tipping to favor you.

Also know as an acceleration clause.A little history lesson…In the old days when banks loaned money and took back a 30-year mortgage that's exactly what you got.It didn’t matter if you sold the property to someone else that loan stuck with the property for 30 years and could be taken over and paid by anyone.Well, in the early 70's banks, lenders, state governments and other interested parties were so upset that they were getting stuck with low interest rates, missing out on taxes, assumption and other sale fees, that lenders started adding due on sale acceleration clause to their contracts.As you can imagine, a lot of borrowers thought this was unfair and brought suit against banks and lenders.Unfortunately around 1979 the United States Supreme Court found in favor of the banks, and today the due on sale -acceleration clause (usually paragraph 17) is found in most if not all conventional mortgages.For years now buyers and sellers have been trying various ways to get around the problem.

Unless there is something significant that we don't know, it doesn't look like you'd be doing your friends any favors pursuing this deal.