While both involve finding and properly securing a site and bringing it to full entitlement, the ground-up process includes the land piece but gets way more involved and complex to execute.The full "Monty" for ground-up development needs to include financial literacy, an explanation of metrics, and how they work.

Box solely for the purpose of collecting rent but I do suggest having one and if nothing else works use it for rent collections but I would Electronic payments or bank deposits before doing mail.

I've been able to afford my payments so far without much issue.

Also, securing financing is no different than site built unless you're dealing with  someone that has no experience originating loans. 

Pros include securing the desired property and strategic planning, while cons involve higher costs, financing challenges, and complexity.

My price range is between 250 - 350k (less would be better, but if more than I would have to be mindful with the interest or down payment %).

In the meantime, focus on building your credit, saving for a down payment, and soaking up as much knowledge as you can.

So you’d be hoping to make $200/months for dealing with 3 x as many tenants, vacancies, tenant on tenant conflict, late payments, etc etc. . 

But after an exchange - sign the purchase documents with one pen and pick up another pen to sign the refi docs :)Another strategy you could consider is reinvesting into multiple properties, where you purchase the first property cash (ensures some security and concentrates the equity) and the second property with a mortgage.

Here’s a quick breakdown of our financials:Operational expenses (excluding mortgage): $33k (Jan-Dec 2024)Annual mortgage payments: $58kTotal needed to break even: $91k+Income earned this year: $80kClearly, we need to bridge a gap of about $11k just to cover our expenses, and I’m exploring options to increase profitability.