My answer for consumer clients is different. 

If passive, consuming content and talking to people in the space and getting your money ready may be all you need to do.

The biggest time consumer would be your apartment building, but that is being managed by a PM.

If it ends up being an expensive or time-consuming repair, you may be able to get bids and have the seller escrow 1.5x or of the bid cost to do the work post-close with a signed agreement and lender approval.  

According to Experian "78% of U.S. consumers' FICO® Scores are higher than 620." 620 is objectively a very bad credit score with a high probability of delinquency.For my rentals, 700 is the minimum and any applicant with lower credit score will need someone else to serve as a personal guarantor.

if you intend to live in it, there are strict ATR rules for consumer loans. this means the lender will have to qualify you with income one way or another. if self-employed, you have a few options that will eliminate the need for tax returns.

@Ed O. ...sorry for the delay, but yes regarding the reservation process (if you haven't already solved) - this might not apply in your case or state, but in our case because we were putting in infrastructure (new road) and had over 14 lots, our state law forces us to act like a new subdivision in terms of State Attorney General office registration, which is a real pain, but supposedly is for consumer protection.

There are a lot of very specific things you can do like target people who've been forced to relocate due to damage to their homes. 

For those who have flipped houses in multiple cities across Texas or Florida, which ones stand out as being on either end of the spectrum in terms of how difficult and time-consuming the permitting process is?

The LTA handbook online also has some samples at the end for the 10 day notice to quit https://law.alaska.gov/pdf/consumer/LandlordTenant_web.pdf