Finally, check with the Town to make sure there are no municipal liens, Make sure they're on Town sewer, check with the tax assessor to see how many bedrooms the tax office thinks there are, (important if you are flipping) buy ok to have more bedrooms if you are planning to buy and hold.  

do you plan to live in that property?

To simplify the existing lease I thought about asking the tenant if they would be ok modifying the addendums to get rid of the resident benefit package and the building protection plan. 

There's a specific forum for House Hacking.You'll want to spend some time reading through there as it's a common topic.

I’m planning to purchase some land and build a small 12x12 cabin.

You are going to get conflicting responses on this because a lot of it comes down to your plans and your tolerance for risk, which are things known only to you.

If you are new to investing we also need to spend some time somewhere, maybe 1hr to talk about your expectations and the realities of the market and see if there is correlation.Interestingly enough I think with the NAR lawsuit some expected commissions to go down. 

The first step I'm doing is checking with the city zoning to see what they would allow before I get too deep with looking at plans, financing and construction. 

My boyfriend and I plan to move to Carbondale, Illinois at the beginning of next year.

I am planning to get into the TN real estate market as my first investment and am looking for some information.In particular: Areas to steer clear of, property management fees, typical cosmetic rehab costs, etc.My strategy is to put large down payments on 2 properties (relative to housing prices) to help pay for my living in NY while still gaining appreciation in a growing real estate market.