With cash in hand, this strategy can provide an unprecedented upper hand at the negotiation table.All the best!

My wife Jen (a real estate agent) and I are real estate investors mainly interested in buy and hold single family rentals, as well as flips. 

I’d say hold off.

I know a decent deal when I see one that has at least the ability to hold it's value.

I'm thinking flipping might be a good entry into investing to build capital to buy and hold.  1.

The first-time home buyer that requires a lot of education, hand-holding, showings at the drop of a hat, etc.If I charged a flat fee, it would have to be around $200 an hour to justify my time.

I'm buying index funds that I'll hold for the long-term.

It is definitely possible to get a fix & flip/hold purchase loan on something like this but on a conversion such as this one you will definitely need a contractor or some subs for the experience factor and all-star credit so lender can feel confident that the project can be completed.

The only way you can get anywhere on this is to have an early discussion with the seller of whether they would consider holding the note, but you'll need to figure out what appeals to them to get them to do it.

I currently own 15 rentals with no debt and plan to hold paper.