Just you need to do the math and make sure it cash flows.   

I'm also in a similar spot, though I did close on a house out of state, but I am looking for something more grand, like an MFH/Apartment type building in MA. The

If your HML will fund 65% of the ARV, and the ARV is 100K, your purchase price needs to be based off of that 100K (ARV) - ACTUAL REPAIR COST (Not the number that makes the math work) - (Holding cost + Lending Fees + Closing Cost (Purchase and Sale) + Any other fix cost) = Purchase Price.

Some paper math works out to those kinds of numbers on the cheapest stuff, but then you need to be REALLY wary, definitely of Killeen and probably Temple, too.

If you want to put in a ton of manual legwork to market for free you can, but it is often not worth the time, you could easily do the math and make minimum wage or less on a per hour basis.

I'm great at money/math/analysis (my day job, senior analyst with 14 years exp), and my wife is a very good creative with an eye for design/aesthetics. 

In the end, the math is basically the same, and my workbook produces the same projections that J Scott's and the BP deal tool does. 

This seems better on paper than a hard money loan or private equity assuming my math is right... what are the downsides?

Say rent $1,000 your hired help-Attorney cost $1,500.You do the math.

Now, if I'm doing my math right, even taking the high-end estimate of the rehab costs and the low-end ARV estimate, you've still got about $105k of potential profit/equity in the deal.