Hello everyone,

My name is Andy Graziano. I'm from Buffalo, New York, which if anyone is familiar, is a really interesting market right now. I've been soaking up the massive wealth on information on here and I must say I'm quite impressed with how knowledgeable most of the members of this forum are.

I graduated college last May and currently work in marketing at a financial planning firm that I interned with during school. I'm in the middle of studying for my series 7 exam while working full time and trying to manage the project that recently fell into my lap. I'm a bit lost here and don't want to waste this opportunity.

The deal:

My mother owned a home in a suburb of Buffalo. Last summer, a fire created quite a lot of damage to the home and she was forced to move out. Her insurance wasn't that great, but it did knock out the remainder of the mortgage (which she was behind on due to a horrible car accident). She's since gotten back to work as a nurse and is doing well for herself again. She moved a couple of towns over and wants nothing to do with the house because it has nothing but bad memories for her. She deeded it over to me two weeks ago.

Last summer, the fire wreaked about $40k in damage to the house, which was appraised at $150k in 2011. The housing market in the Buffalo suburbs has appreciated nicely in the last few years. Comparables in the neighborhood go for $180-200k. There are about $5500 in back taxes and a $3500 social services lien against the property.

So, I'm left with a property that has an ARV of at least $150-180k, free and clear aside from the $9k in liens. My mother just wants to see it put to good use and doesn't want any proceeds from the sale.

My problem is financing. I'm wary of hard money lenders and I've contacted some private mortgage lenders in the area as getting a loan on this house is virtually impossible because of the condition of the property and my low income last year because I was still in school. 

I was quoted at 16% apr on $55k for repairs. Including taxes, the monthly carrying costs for the property would be $1200-$1300. This would be a bit hard to swing as I'm just starting out.

Are there any clever ways to get around this? Is 16% reasonable? Any help is welcomed,

Looking forward to getting to know some of you,

Andy Graziano