With your wife being a real estate professional, you have a valuable edge for maximizing tax deductions.

Yes, these savings were temporary but nevertheless valuable.

This has been extremely valuable.

After that I can use the Sheriff's office to execute my judgement by potentially seizing valuable assets (but I have to pay the sheriff to do that) or possibly to garnish their wages.

I used an always locked steel door to do essentially te same thing.

I’m entirely new to this and would love advice (whatever you think is most valuable). 

The property may still be a valuable asset that increases in value over time and creates wealth through equity expansion even if it doesn't cash flow at first.Examine Renting by the Room: If the house is a bigger multi-family unit, renting out individual rooms inside it is an additional way to optimize rental income.

That's valuable knowledge, especially regarding the building costs of hiring a contractor.

The long-term benefits seem promising, but it's a considerable leap.Delay Action and Save More: Alternatively, I could pause any immediate investment, focusing on boosting my savings for a larger down payment on a more significant property next year.Your experiences, insights, and any advice you can share would be immensely valuable to me.

For even new investors to be able to finance the purchase with only 15-20% down and then 100% of the repair budget is extremely valuable.