For example, all of my offers are put in as cash. 90% or more of those offers will be rejected because of my 30% profit margin figured into the offer.

But if you figure my return on the $48K I've actually got in the deal it's the equivalent of a 12.75% interest rate.I have a prepayment penalty for the first 2 years (6 months interest).

I'm assuming you've figured out your financing for this project by now.

With so many options for repayment out there it is very easy for someone to minimize the amount that they have to pay back each month. 10 year term, 10 year with increasing payments, income-based payments... the list goes on and on.The only other thing that I would add is that we need to help kids figure out where the jobs are going.

I think you should figure out how much credit you can get in your hands to buy and flip houses.Call my friend Ari at Gelt Financial, he may be able to get you in some deals with nothing down.www.geltfinancial.com, tell him Jcommunities referred you.

The last few days I've been stumped, wondering, why is it that a citizen in good standing, with years of military service in support of the country, with a master's level education, cannot even figure out with any certainty HOW TO OBEY THE LAW?

You have to figure out how much all of this is costing you to do, how much it is going to cost you to dump a "cubic yard" of debris, etc.

Any other words of wisdom would be helpful.I figure this could be a great thread for all pre-construction newbies.

I have a strong amount of equity (close to 6 figures) in my house, and a lot tucked away into savings and retirement.

So I figure it was best if I started the research and asked the questions so it couldn't happen again.