Flip are very difficult to find, and the margins are as thin as I've ever seen.

If that profit margin is less than 500k married filing jointly I don't believe he would have to pay cap gains on the sale of that house.

Marginal return that may get worse if things turn negative.

It isn't rocket science, it is spread sheets, a lot of research and usually sweat equity or giant margins that allow you to be a paper contractor.

Stocks on the other hand would typically require collateralized assets (example margin loan or HELOC) to obtain leverage.  

But margins are definitely narrow.

Of all the financing options out there, inclusive of swiping credit cards, FHA 203k is often towards the top in terms of how expensive, especially if you factor in that a GC willing to deal with FHA 203k paperwork is going to charge a 30% or 35% profit margin (you can do that when you're the only bidder...), not the normal 20%.I get that HGTV is entertaining (the name for this desire to "buy a fixer and flip it to myself as a first time buyer!"

Correspondent lenders are definitely a good option, sometimes they have higher margins, but they are sometimes a little bigger and may have a larger team atmosphere. 

So the margins here would be tight at best and you may want to negotiate purchase price further. + you need to fully understand all expenses on a go-forward basis after renovation and see if the property is likely to cash flow.

I'm love learning, but I'm seeing decreasing marginal returns on education, and I think it's time to move on to hands-on learning.