I would suggest making sure that you are following a set format/style of house each time you flip to systemize it more2.

I just don't want to run into any problems with the lender when I am about to close on the house.

Until the house goes through the foreclosure process, I am making monthly interest payments.

So I just closed on a duplex a couple days ago & Im going to be house hacking.

I think arbitrage is a great way to do STR with the high interest rates / inflated housing prices we are experiencing now.

Well, STR can work well for people who own a vacation house for personal use, and just want to generate some extra income when not in use.  

For example if you think the house is worth 200K fixed up you need to pay 100K to afford the hard money loan and rehab budget and still have a profit.

I found houses that had not been well kept up.

I can also see the ends of the Commuter Rail lines being good too...like Haverhill for instance  The Salem/Beverly area is great and pretty pro-development/housing from what I'm hearing.

Even if you rent the house for $2,000 a month, you will still lose because of maintenance, vacancies, and the expensive mistakes common with newer investors.You can borrow up to 70% of the equity.