Also in the meantime they recommend stopping mail to the mailbox, holding at post office, and manually picking it up (all of which I had to do once when I lost the mail key).

I pick option 1In my opinion, you shouldn't do business with friends.

You would put up a down payment and the rate wouldn't be as good, but it would only be for a few months until the project was completed, then you could re-fi with the VA 100% LTV benefit with a better rate, and you probably would be getting more cash back then you put in, assuming the property value appreciated more than the costs of the renovation.This would also mean you could get more bids to actually compare with and pick the best one.  

I've spent too much time picking the brains of the STR group at City Hall and think I've got a good idea of where they are at!

So its been 3 months, how many have you picked up and how's it going ? 

What they allowed us to do was have a lease signed on the property for the 10 acres of corn with the local farmer that planted the corn and after the corn was picked, all farming activities on the property would be stopped and no farming would be allowed to continue. 

Next, pick your plan for investing.

Most people try to "build a team" prematurely.If you are trying to invest out of state, you are most likely picking a market that a lot of other investors are in.

I know people will spend more time picking a pair of shoes or an appliance than they will investing in a syndication or even buying a property.

I know I can probably house hack my way to 5 properties in 5 years, but I assume I'll probably learn more efficient and aggressive ways to scoop up more properties as I complete my 2nd-3rd house hack, so that I can start picking up more than 1 property per year.I don't want properties that will take a lot to fix up, I'm fine with cosmetics and do-it-yourself type things.