C Neighborhood and C Property - rookie questions

[Greg Pasquale]

I am brand new.  This is more of a hypothetical question.  I know better than to shoot from the hip and actually take action on this but I like to see where my thinking is wrong. I want to absorb as much as possible.

I live on Long Island.  Brutal place to invest as we all know. I will probably need to stay on Long Island for at least 2 more years (max 4).  Have disposable income. 30K now in hand - by the fall potentially 100K (worst case 60K).  6 figure W-2 job as well.  I rent right now a townhouse (2 teen kids) which is again we all know the rent is insane.

A few avenues I am looking into is house hacking to start (almost the only way to do it if you are on Long Island and even then it can be tough), remote investing (after I make solid connections), and entertaining other options like the following:

I notice as I search more and more locally, there are lots of multi-family fixer-uppers in C areas half the price of the surrounding properties that could provide decent income (if rent is paid and not vacant).

For example, property is 150K - all homes around it are 300K.  Clearly it will need work.  Rental income is estimated at $2250/mo.

Wouldn't this make sense to put 20% down.  Put 20k to 30k into it.  And in 2 to 4 years flip it?

I ran it through the rental calc on this site.  Entering all expenses, etc at worst case scenarios and even included a 12% property manager.   I still showed a few hundred dollars positive cash flow.

Now, I might be thinking a little to recklessly but wouldn't I have decent equity in 2 to 4 years?  Even with a down real estate market in the coming months, I don't see that lasting more than a few quarters.

I am also assuming solid property management and a good team of people.

I also figure this gets my feet wet and with my other disposable income coming in I either hold it just in case this fails or continue to explore other investments.

Anyway - let my learning begin - where am I going wrong?  Am I assuming the houses around it are actually worth double?  I am seeing houses in C neighborhoods (unsteady employment, moderate crime, drug problems, but still families occupying these homes) upwards of 300k to 400k.

And anyone who lives on Long Island and has some experience starting out from here feel free to connect.