My question is - should I wait about 3 - 4 weeks until spring has started and the market heats up or put it on in the middle of Feb which is traditionally pretty slow in this area?

If you do a short sale, you won't qualify for traditional financing for 2-4 years.

Greetings,I am new to BiggerPockets, and REI as a whole, but have read that traditional financing is hard to come by when dealing with a fixer-upper.

All are located in a 5 star SoCal location.He has had trouble finding a traditional HELOC that will lend over $1,000,000, in part due to max loan balance restrictions, and part due to retirement DTI.

I understand they are at a higher interest but it would be for 6 month til I can refi with a traditional loan. this house would be in St.Louis so if anyone knows anyone in the area that does this also would be appreciated. just needing this first start so i can start my portfolio, thanks shawn

Find a Realtor that also manages property and/or owns local investment properties.Many of our local boutique real estate brokerages start as just that, and eventually move into managing their real estate empires and drop the traditional real estate agent portion of their business.

If you go with a big name traditional broker then you will have to close considerably more in order to make your license worthwhile. 

A 2012 study by HubSpot showed that companies focused on inbound (read: online) marketing have a lower cost per lead of 61% compared with those who still use traditional methods.4).

I enjoyed teaching but have always felt I wouldn't reach my ultimate goals of financial wealth from teaching in a traditional school.

It's not "traditional" financing, but it may be one option.