My contractor partner and I started our design and construction business flipping homes for investors in the Hollywood Hills, Beverly Hills areas a while back and are now excited to start flipping our own.

The seminar was specifically designed for non-profits to understand the qualification, vetting and auction process for HUD sales along with the management requirements if you are a winning bidder.  

As @Mark Ainley suggested, you may wish to contact a permit expediter - in addition to assisting one through the actual process of permitting, they may prove very helpful in directing you to the design professionals you'll need.  

If you qualify for a loan on your own, go with an FHA 203k loan, which is designed for purchase and rehab.  

I've always loved interior design, but as I've pursued different avenues within that field, I realized I'm much more interested in staging.

It isn't designed for investors but is mature enough to deal with us easily.  

Hypothetical question of the day, primarily designed to compare markets in different parts of the country:If you were to purchase 500K of property, what kind of NOI would you expect in your Market and area?

For example, do you want to continue to pay top dollar in our bubble-like economy, when the area you might be looking at has already  been "hot" for longer than usual?

I'm a puppet builder/designer, and if that isn't weird enough, I'm a puppet guy who isn't a weirdo introvert. 

I would also have it set up so you self host it instead of paying a company or web designer to host the site.