There are many opportunities out there and typically its a matter of networking with the right people.I'll PM you.

Retirement accounts can only receive contributions from earned income. 

Same day delivery.With a bit of help from craigslist...Next .. receiving painter and carpet quotes!

There are plenty of investors willing to pay cash for houses in that price range so they can flip or turn them into rentals.It’s typical now to show a client 30 or 40 homes if they are looking in that price range.That can be lot of work and time for a 3 percent commission."

I can probably put down up to $20k, but I like having a little more liquid assets in the bank since almost every time I've received orders to move, I've had less than a month's notice and there are quite a bit of expenses in moving...However, since I'm "guaranteed" to be in NY for two years, I think I can afford to keep less money in my checking/savings accounts and put down a large down payment. 

Typical West MI are around 2.9% of PP annually -or 5.8% of SEV.

Just curious, are the payments received from bookings instantaneous?

A typical buy-in is $50K and sometimes you can get in with  $25K or less depending on the deal size and deal sponsor's will to accommodate you.The deal sponsor is a critical part though.

The typical kind that just have a latch that flips over and you put a padlock through are junk.

He hands me an envelope with $2500 cash with a "thanks for the great work again".I got invited to his personal condo house warming after he did a full "modern" renovation, and received glowing recommendations from him.