I'll bet you would dig thru 1000 properties if there are that many to find a decent OTC deal in Texas. 

You can do it yourself, but the best bet is usually contacting a vending machine company. 

Generally best bet is to be able to do significant portfolios at a time and try to bundle at least 8-10 of these in one blanket loan

It was inspected as a duplex, and I'd bet it'll be appraised as a duplex as well (basically removing the oven gives the appraiser plausible deniability), which could create value issues and impact your DTI if you need to use rental income to qualify. 

I will do that to see what I should anticipate and track my progress against a "happy path" future P&L.Appreciate the clarity on the 1031, that makes sense now.

I'm in the union on long island so I have a decent W2 job to help get started, I think a house hack would be my best bet starting out but, what do you guys think?

I bet they are pounding on this guy hard to. 

How are things progressing with the work on the house?

I bet Maine is GORGEOUS!!

Respectfully,Zach The best bet is likely to create a new LLC that lays things out in a straightforward but legally strong and standard operating agreement, etc. - LLC doc sets are fairly cheap and easy to create these days (with limited assistance from lawyers) and its much much better to have that cover bases on arrangements like this - it will also fit nicely with financing options - whether you take on debt from a lender in a co-equity situation like your first plan (refinance loan to LLC post rehab?)