@Jesse SteinIf you can use that $50,000 and earn more than what you would having it otherwise locked up in the property, this could be a smart thing to do.

Hey everyone whats going on? Recently my cousin came across a house that we are looking to invest in.  The house is a short sale and has been abandoned for about 3 years now after hurricane sandy.  The exterior of the...

We got in a bidding war once, and it was very stressful, and walking turned out to be our smart move too.You are spot on that you cannot put too much energy into lining up the finances.  

Is this a smart idea?  

The house has great bones and lots of special character features like a stained glass entryway, large stone fireplace and large bbq pit.  

@Steve A.Its smart in North Carolina to do a lease purchase over a lease-option as the laws protect tenant  buyers if they bring you to court for failure to payment of rentA lease purchase is like a delayed sale and purchase agreement with the rights to occupyIf tenant purchaser fails to get a mortgage as per the agreement they're out their earnest money

That isn't meant to say you are somehow "not smart".  

Ouch.Thanks for sharing your lead pipelines.What about the other smart investors out there?

I believe in taking advantage of any method available to make smart investments and this is one way to get started so go for it!

If you're not putting any work into these properties A is superior to B because you pay more for a loan to refi out than simply getting a conventional loan in the first place.The reason people usually pick B over A is because the refi out is dependent on the ARV, which means you can theoretically pull out more cash than you put into the property in the first place if you buy smart and create equity.