You can also put in more time / effort in your W2 job to try in bring in more money for more properties.Good luck and don't forget to keep your emergency fund beefy! 

He claims he doesn’t allow access until the very end so you don’t get distracted and bombard him with questions while he’s teaching, but the truth is he doesn’t want you to see you bought yourself $10k worth of recycled guru garbage until its too late.

There were a few slight distractions like figuring out financing, selling a neighboring lot (that I had also acquired via letter writing) on Craigslist, rent out my RV, rent out my house, make my first ever documentary film (a twenty minute short called Kara, Star Of The World about a woman with a traumatic brain injury from a childhood ski accident), take any photo and video work I could get, start a 360 photography company, create social media channels to hype the build, parent two small kids, do a beautiful and excruciating tandem mountain bike ride across Scotland, drive my family on RV trips to Colorado/Arizona/Utah/Nevada/California/Wisconsin/Minnesota/Michigan/Florida, attempt to write a novel and adopt a puppy.The above may read as humble brag, it is not.

At least, that's how NAR treats it with the Clear Cooperation rules they put in place a couple of years ago.

The appraiser from the bank lending me the money for the project said my home would increase in value from $850k to $1.1 million once the ADU is put in.

Unless the seller is willing to finance more of the property, you will likely have to put in 20% plus the rehab costs.

For me I diversify into real estate as well as other asset classes and put most of it in lower risk areas (I am closer to 50) and have some “play money” that I am willing to put in riskier investments.

In the event that you do have a true squatter its a fairly standard eviction process which is unfortunate but does happen in this business.On a preventative note if you have a vacant unit you can put in a security system that uses cellular and you will get notification if anyone comes in. 

Like I said - look up that link ( I don't know if the moderators want us to put in links,) I would look up contract up deed - hold onto the deed until it is paid for .

If you buy your relative’s house for $130k-$140k and put in $10k of updates, make sure to get a Broker Price Opinion (BPO) and/or a formal appraisal to show its true value.