And start from a position of strength rather than getting into a property right before you go back to finish up school and have no income for a year.

I have done a couple of fix and flips.

I end up spending 20k more than I expected.

If buyer is important than yes, off-market is the correct strategy. 

In fact, I would want to go even lower because there's a very good chance some damage is hidden and costs will run higher than anticipated.If you aren't experienced, I recommend you just buy the good apple. 

I work 40 hours a week usually from 4pm -12am.

Like 100-200 bucksBetter than paying up front on a property you dont own.

Buying properties back then in the Bay Area and doing nothing turned out to be an amazing wealth building strategy :) But, it more than tripled his net monthly income making this move!

That's an average of 17% annually over that time.The City of Detroit has not only outperformed every city in the Metro Detroit area, its outperformed every city in the USA from 2014-2024:Let that sink in for a minute ... you'll probably need more time than that to process this!

In today’s market most homes will be worth more than their outstanding loan balance unless they are VERY recent purchases with little to no money down.