Amazon and Costco are so big with such purchasing power, you can often find the lowest prices on what you need.

Last year my mother purchased her brother's and sister's share of a building they co-owned. 

It won't take much money to purchase something that makes sense.Use the remaining money to invest long-distance.

A "miserable corporate job to no where" isn't all that bad - health insurance benefits, 401k matching, probably some sort of discount stock purchase plan, stability, lenders like it.

I hope no one is using this to actually purchase property subject to.

The purchaser of the property, sometimes the foreclosure rescue artist, is now free to refinance the property or to sell the property to another party.

To be successful as a real estate investor in any form - except maybe purchasing the Vanguard REIT index fund - an investor needs education, knowledge and understanding of real estate principles, real estate law, and real estate finance.  

@Kristian Forbes Short of doing another house hack or negotiating the purchase price down a fair amount, I think that's going to be a tough one to make the numbers work.

I work with out-of-state investors and would be happy to share my experience and how I can help you in your next investment purchase.

So it does appear to be possible to get an FHA 203k loan for a 5-unit & convert to a 4-unit.When possible, aim for the Limited (aka Streamline) 203k loan, as it's less complex, not required to get an FHA consultant, etc.Of course, this is based of the two following important assumptions:1)  zoning allows for this2)  and obviously I owner occupy for at least 12 months3)  the total purchase price + renovations are within the FHA loan limits specific to my areaWhat I'm confused about is the timeline or chronological order of the process?