A week later, the owner returned my call and expressed interest in selling.

if the $38K can see a 8% COC return that will pay for 1/2 of the car payment + she gets all the perks of another rental. 

With $19K invested and a $71K purchase price, your cash-on-cash return should be strong if the rental income covers expenses and leaves room for profit.

I like you can see stats on zillòw but many people are non responsive after you send the first communication.

Tanya I will return from my trip to Puerto Rico on December 9th.

Consider spending some time in these areas to get a feel for the market and see if you'd enjoy living there. you ever dealt with ground up non owner occupied construction loans? 

You can always open HELOC or line of credit from your primary house or non primary house, assuming you have sufficient equity and income to qualify.

As a new investor, focusing on these can give you a solid foundation to grow your portfolio.I’m primarily focused on the Indianapolis market, where we specialize in new build duplexes that offer strong returns and stable rental income.

Returning calls, texts several days after I reached out to them.

Jumping into a deal just because it feels like you "need" to can be tempting, but as your story highlights, it doesn’t always lead to the returns we hope for no matter how hard we try and convince ourselves that we know everything, it is like the universe pushing the other way around against us.I especially appreciate your point about really knowing your market.