You should consider the seasons.

. :) Single mom with one income and unfortunately my 401k maintains most of my savings at this point, so my hands are only partially tied.So I reach out to all of you seasoned investors for critique and suggestions.

This seasoned investor you are partnering with is having you find new agents to write offers because they know the one making money will not waste time on it.

Well if you are licensed in the state, anyone correct me if I am wrong you can do this, but you have to disclose to the person you are referring the company to that you have this type of agreement with the company and that you may or may not be compensated on the transaction.Hope this helps, may be someone else that is seasoned in the business and have dealt with this shed more light.Happy hunting!

I know many of you may think how can you do that ,well fortunately  we happen to be in an extremely relaxed lending environment ,ive been in this business for 30 years and this is only the 2nd time i;ve seen real estate lending this relaxed ,for you old timers ,i know you can remember when their was no seasoning of title , in that period i was able to acquire 20 properties in 6 months ,moving right along ,heres the formula 1) find a property that needs a rehab in a b or c+ neighborhood,determine that after the rehab you will be at a 65 to 70% arv,next after you've acquired and rehabbed the property refinance it ,heres the example ,$45,000 purchase ,$30,000 rehab ,finished value $125,000,now you have a couple of options,you can refinance the property in 30 days at a 70% ltv,or you can refinance it later at an 80% ltv in 90 days,,using the example at 70% your cash out is $87,500,lets assume that your settlement costs were $8000 per transaction for the intial purchase and refinance,this equals $16,000 ,your cash out is $12,000,which leaves your out of pocket at $4000,this would be your total outlay,assuming that you rented the property and had net revenues of $500 a month your total return yearly would be $6000 monthly,your roi is 50%,now if your roi wasn't this high ,let say 30% annual return ,i don't think you would be too mad ,however you have another option and if you are not in a hurry you can refinance in 90 days at 80% ,when you refinance your cash out would be $125,000x80=$100,000-$75,000=$$25,000-$16,000 would be $9000,,so the $64,000 question would be how much did this really cost you,rinse and repeat this formula over and over  and you will be a happy camper              

I'm definitely interested in what you'd do, but rather than find an answer here, I'm looking for strategies/criteria seasoned investors like yourself use or have used to continue to grow your portfolio.I appreciate your feedback (as well as all who have responded).

We are having a strong retail season this year, so the MLS is very competitive right now, but I expect to see a lot of good deals this fall for all of the homes that couldn't sell.Zip codes can be pretty broad, at least in Indy.

I think your parents can give you that amount and you will not pay any taxes on it but check with your CPA. let it sit in your account until it is seasoned.

I'm a seasoned investor new to the chicago area and I'm looking to pick up some units on the south side and west side of the city.

I've helped a couple BP clients purchase condos for this purpose and expectations were far exceeded after the peak Spring season.