We did a good quality job in Baltimore City. 

If there is no mortgage on the property, you could give the seller the money to install the septic as a mortgage in the 1st position to protest your money.When dealing with banks, they can complicate things so, the 203k could take some time or not even close the deal.Hope this helps

It's messy but so positive. 

Finding good contractors has always been difficult, its the hardest part of this business, and with new home builders working again they are sucking up a lot of the quality people and driving up prices.

I’m also concerned with quality of materials and maybe I should accept that things get replaced more often in an apartment and just buy the cheapest of everything I can find?

But if you have a real business setup, and have been operating it for at least a year or two (with two years tax returns), you should be able to go to many lenders and get quality access to financing -- albeit with more paperwork than the other guy with the W2.

Of course we were in no position to argue being without a house.

I have posted the pictures elsewhere on BP, so see below.Here is a link to the post with the "high quality" - NOT!

Regardless of your experience or cash position, house hacking is the PERFECT way to get your feet wet. 

At $5K that is probably going to be a 2nd position note or a first position note on either a very low end home in the hood or way out in the middle of pudunk.