Additionally I would suggest having the long term financing relationship built so that they can easily transition the deal after renovation. 

After 20+ years in Tampa, I’ve seen that the best agents don’t just sell you a dream—they give you real numbers, honest comps, and realistic projections.

My exit strategy is to refinance into a Longterm USDA loan, after the Tax Map Key is issued in 10-24months.I plan on farming crops on the land.

The average sale price for all new construction homes in the Charlotte region was $488k as of December 2024, so nothing less than $1 million is 100% false.

One strategy is to pursue properties (in your preferred markets) that have been listed for sale for over 90 days (even longer is better).

Wherever you took your broker's class you should have ample study materials.If you are talking about your real estate agent's license in NJ (that is not a broker's license), you need to take the initial class at an accredited agency and they will give you all of the materials after you finish the 75 hours for the test. 

@Jay Hinrichs yes Maui did the same thing after the Lahaina fire, and you're also right that Santa Rosa had no such restrictions. 

It’s doable, just more difficult, time consuming, with a lot more “contacts” needed for each “sale”. 

But after working with the family, we purchased it for $42,000 and got to work.We had some unique challenges, like dealing with one of the heirs who wasn’t very cooperative and required a payoff to sign the paperwork we needed for clear title.

He can spend the next few years-ish getting a finance degree through an online school while working part time, but he just got offered a full time position helping with sales for a local wholesale real estate company.