Wants to get his corvette out for the weekend to drive.  

So for sanity I am hoping to stay within a 30 min drive.  

I thought this was a joke at first but am told they require some form to be signed attesting to the owner/landlord living within 15 minutes driving distance of the property in order to rent it out. 

That said, there's basically zero chance of finding it for meaningfully less than the price you mentioned.  

I learned mine by driving around, looking up a bunch of properties online and looking at a bunch in person, listening to everything people said at the meetups and asking a ton of questions to local investors.If you have the money, her course is a bit of a shortcut to learn what you need to know, but it by no means is everything you need to flip in a local market.

Pete in an older/rougher neighborhood, but very close to downtown(less than 5min drive) or a little bit nicer of a neighborhood, but further away(15-20min drive)?

The market will drive commissions.

If buying now aligns with your long-term financial goals and property needs, it might be worth moving forward rather than waiting.Impact on Property Prices: Lower interest rates can boost demand for properties, which might drive up prices.

With an average of 92 days on the market for listed homes, we needed to craft a thoughtful design that would match the build of the home, and drive top dollar in the market with as few days active as possible Upon completion, this home received multiple offers in the first week of listing the property for sale and went under contract just 9 days after listing!

I think we are at the point, where labor costs are actually going down as most of the labor relies on big national builder's for their work, and with home sales slowing down, we are seeing labor rates competing for work, which is driving down the costs.