Where I'm at (Minneapolis), anything less than 1% would be considered light. 

10-15% is considered solid these days 

Hello World, I have been doing research on "cash" offers as an investor and the results I have came up with is a "cash" offer can be consider any funding that is or has the ability to be liquidated without contingency from a bank; i.e. hard money, private money or your own cash.

They are not seriously considering selling within 12 months but are interested in their home value. 

I am a recent graduate from Texas A&M university and a few months prior, I was considering getting into Wholesaling.I learned that with Wholesaling, there were so many pitfalls concerning wholesaling, legalities that one needs to deal with when wholesaling properties, so I decided to look at another alternative route instead.One of the areas that caught my attention was being a refferal partner for Real Estate and Private Equity investors.Do you guys know what states such activities are going to be legal or illegal?

The HELOC would likely be more efficient for securing the acquisition as it would be considered 'cash.' 

Also, the terms of our offer were pretty ridiculous because it was contingent on:-Us finding two sets of renters and signing leases (in order to get the financing in order)-The owner of the offered-on property buying-out one set of his tenants-Us being able to move in within 60 days of closing How did you finance this deal?

It WAS pushed live and I got booked immediately during peak weekends before I had a chance to set up the calendar.

Hello, I am currently under contract on two duplexes (4 units) and am set to close next week.

If you are setting aside funds for capex, taxes, insurance, or other expenses that don't occur monthly, transfer those funds to Savings each month and hold them there until it's time to spend them.