Plus the other people who are getting those deals ahead of time have fat pockets and can close with cash.

I like that too because those are nice big fat proceeds  checks  they feel good.

If that is the case, then the number you can plug into your calculator for your labor is a big fat goose egg...and your profit calculation should reflect that.Therefore, what you are actually trying to add into the equation is an arbitrary number for "opportunity costs". 

For one thing you get super fat.  

They devoured knowledge like a fat kid on cake.

-Get a thorough inspection -Keep to a strict budget-Do most the work yourself (I went through a four year Carpenter Apprenticeship program but you may already posses the skills if you've been helping your Dad for a while)Good luck to you.There's nothing like cashing that first big fat check after a successful flip!

that's a foundation  some over East of there in the next states over are so bad the houses look like humptydumpty houses cracked like and egg and off 1 feet from one side to the other.. we have bought hundreds of them over the years.. its OK if your getting them with pricing in mind its not OK to pay the competitive values in Dallas then have to deal with them after the fact and that's what happened to us.. did not know what we did not know.. so it was a big fat OUCH.

Barring a big fat pay raise at work, the above is my guess as to what it will take for you, made possible by your strong savings relative to your income, that you presumably lived frugally to achieve.

Get the duck fat fries!

Further, I intend to buy additional properties which (following the trend) may well be a little fat in the land valuation.