I came back to Ohio and started working for a construction company, and have been there since. (2017) Currently I manage an asphalt plant for them in Columbus.I haven't done a ton of real estate investing, but have a strong understanding of construction, and project management. 

Need to be sure you include the "unknown budget" and never take the optimistic approach as it is better to have money left at the end than writing more and more checks that were unplanned for.Again, if you can walk through an actual property and compare notes with someone that does it in your area (key factor), you will be way ahead of what a generic book can give you.

There is a formula that you must follow if you want to perform, having a realtor who knows the market inside and out and practices what they preach is an absolute necessity. 

I hope you don’t have friction with your partner because the money got ahead of the work.I’ve had some success hiring workers for the day at the prices the gcs pay them $100-200 but have had my fair share of misses here too.

It was a pain, but in the end, I came out ahead as there are rent caps in the area and got good tenants. 

Layer on the ability to invest the funds that otherwise would go towards the down payment and transactional costs and you likely come out ahead in such a short term horizon renting.

While there’s no perfect formula, there are a few methods you can use to get as close as possible:For maintenance and repairs, a good rule of thumb is to budget 1%–2% of the property’s value annually.

Just a heads up LTR folks are pretty brutal on furniture.

If you conclude the leverage is so good that everyone comes out ahead that's fine but if you are only able to originate hard money debt that may be viewed as a red flag by investors who will question your experience and borrowing strength.

The economy is stable—no wild bubbles or busts—and the city is attracting major investments.Elon Musk recently built the world’s largest supercomputer in South Memphis, Ford is investing $5 billion into a state-of-the-art truck plant to the east, and the Medical District is booming with healthcare innovation and development.