I haven't had a chance to visit the property or see it until today and it looks like some squatters(and their dog(s) have been camping through the winter ( God bless them), however, I need to get the wheels rolling on this home.

Change those ugly cream coloured receptacles to white.

They are not all cream of the crop but when you find good ones keep their contact info.

Maybe shave off a bit to leave room for negotiations.

@Danny Randazzo and @Thomas S. have the right idea with a property management company that will try to hold you to the contract.

of course with a good wholesaler the cream at the top is just that much thicker!

They maybe not as trendy as Pac Heights or Sea Cliff as they are the cream of the crop but your budget will go further.My final thought is that some homes have a empty first floor that you can expand the livable space easily.

I would much rather have only my first mortgage balance left due on my house (I'd have $100K+ in equity if so), but life happens and I'm glad I at least hung on to things where I could and 'made' the money I did by buying low so that we could clean the slate and dive into the next chapter with clean credit.I've wanted to get an investment property since last year, but getting my RE license, and cleaning up my debt and finances to the point of shaving $1000+ off of monthly obligations is setting the foundation for what we will accomplish in the future. 

But if you spent a total of $500,000 ($300K to purchase and $200K to fix up not including closing/holding costs), then you're still short by $50,000 in the end.So you need to negotiate numbers that work up front so you can pay back your private lender(s), have a bunch of cash of your own to bridge the gap, or walk from the deal.But this is assuming you borrow ALL the money.

Even for rentals I like to make them real nice to attract the cream of the crop tenants and separate my units from the rest.