I've thought about value add plays out of state but the managing of the rehab etc is turning me away.

My plan was to "self-perform" a land contract by filling out a purchase and sales agreement for a land contract that specifies I will take over the mortgage payments, get authorized on their mortgage, and be authorized essentially to fix up the property and eventually sell it on the MLS since the land contract will give me that control/equitable interest.

I thought maybe I could play a role by making a nice, comfortable place to live.

If any of the neighbors sit on the porch and play the banjo, I would avoid that area.

The reality is both play a key role in your asset management plan.

They generally have large portfolios allowing for in house maintenance and management staff along with a point person who is communicating with the local housing authority on a regular basis and has the ability to streamline operations. 

I have  water damage in one of my properties in MD, and the IA is playing hard ball.

Finally have enough to consider making a play here and looking to find some locals and read further experiences here. 

When it is a new development, it isn't uncommon to see someone use the date the Certificate of Occupancy was issued - perhaps that marks the "ready", but it still might not be "available".So you can certainly have a property in service in a given year, but not actually have any rental income - but certainly your facts and circumstances are much better if you can actually get a tenant in there, that (should) shore up your defense on that question ever coming up unless you are playing weird games just to get a given in service date for tax purposes.

I understand the cash situation, so maybe this becomes a stacking/1031 Exchange play.