Investment Financing
I would like to buy a house as an investment. I want to put cash in my pocket because the home needs some cosmetic work (rear exterior and Kitchen). This would be my first house for investment purposes. Sale Price is 105K . House should easily appraise for 150K to 175K. Any suggestions would be helpful. 
For minor work you can agree with the seller that they will credit back up to x% (6% being what some lenders allow).
This way you get it built into your mortgage. The money is left in the escrow and will only be paid out for improvements. Very likely you can not get paid for your time if you did the work yourself; just the materials. If you hire a professional then materials and labor would be covered.
If you want more then that you will have a harder time. Just be careful not to do anything that is consider loan fraud as that can result in a jail term.
A completely different idea is to lease/option the place and then do the work before you buy. You would need to then buy for a price that pays out the amounts needed to cover the money to the seller and money to you. The lender will still not like cash back but might look at the repair receipts.
John
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You can do a Fannie Mae Rehab loan. It will allow 90% LTV of sales price plus rehab costs. You cannot do any of the work. yourself. You have to be able to fully document your income and qualify on Fannie Mae guidelines for debt ratio (depends on credit score, income, and assets). Or you can get a short term loan from a bank (my preference) or hard money lender to acquire the property, get the repairs done, then refi to pull cash out at the higher, documented value. That's how I normally do it.
-Jim
The easiest way is to go subprime with a bank that allows unlimited seller credits. Of course you would have a prepayment penalty and a higher interest rate than fannie mae but it would get what you want accomplished.
Lori
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