By providing the necessary funding and covering renovation expenses, we ensured the project stayed on track and within budget, leading to a profitable outcome.

I live in Stamford, Ct and Fort Lauderdale, Fl.

We travel for work (healthcare) and chronically live out of MTRs, so it will be our first time operating a shorter term, but won’t be an entirely foreign situation to us.

"The only red flag that stood out is that she strongly discourages flying out to the location and scoping out the property as she said it could get expensive and we could instead use that for a downpayment."

You need to minimize upfront expenses because 100% of your investment is at risk and lost if the lot is not buildable.My favorite strategy is to locate the property and tie it up for usually no more than $100 for a period of 8-12 months, analyze it myself and if I believe it to have a chance at being buildable I create a permitting plan and market the property to other investors/builders willing to take on the permitting risk.  

Besides putting together the best SOW using accurate/actual quotes as @Peter Mckernan and @Alan Asriants commented above, another key aspect is tracking expenses (bookkeeping) and monitoring the budget throughout the project. 

The best projects I've seen from my desk are folks who are doing hyper-targeted, well-researched deals that are generally in higher cost of living (there are exceptions) areas. 

So you need to live there.

Hi Mathew,We live in Greensboro, which area of Greensboro is the house located in?

Hey Dan, renting to a sober living operator can be a great idea.