Is Greenville the closest place? 

The closest he found was in Ventura County and did not want to deal with moving or the slower growth so he dropped  it.

Death from AIDS is exempted.

Since I live in Murphy (northeast of Dallas) the closest REI group to me is the North Texas Association if Real Estate Investors (http://ntarei.com/).

My brothers a broker, and i have decent reserves, and great credit, so getting a construction loan wont be difficult...it may be a challenge but not difficult3 closest comps, 799k, 865k, 878k and none of these properties were rehabbed all of them needed full gut..I know theres so much in between but just looking at the surface to start withAdvice from some builders....Thanks in advance

A couple of things...1) one of my closest friends lives 1-block away, so I know the area well.  

I really look forward to using biggerpockets.com to aid me in achieving my dreams and also adding to the community so others can achieve theirs.  

He will also be your feet on the ground, or he will be the person closest to the investment and probably will be doing more of the monitoring of the Property and the Property Managment then you will be doing.Good luck and keep us posted on how and where you find this partner and what kind of property you locate.

I was also tested for AIDS-passed that too.

The closest other towns are almost an hour away, and prices are steadily increasing out of my price range there as well.