If you are going to be doing the rehab work in exchange for equity then that value needs to be determined up front with a specific timeline that you have to adhere to in order to earn your equity.

I guess the idea is to use the equity from one property to purchase the second property, and so on.

Quote from @Paul Whitehurst: Many will tell you to borrow money from Property A to purchase Property B, but that's known as over-leveraging and not recommended for a newer investor.

Recommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?

If you've been a victim, go over to lendbasetookmymoney.com and submit the form so that the attorney can determine if this is considered a class action lawsuit. 

Aim to increase your Operating Income by acquiring 3-4 units for the next purchase.

Don't pay the current owner (higher purchase price) for the work he/she didn't do.

The one's I prefer handle everything in house, from purchasing the home, renovating it, renting it, then selling to an investor then managing for them on the back end.

Or, you could move out and leave this first purchase as a rental and buy another.

I am 1600 miles away from three residential properties I just purchased in Jackson, Mississippi.