Know the architectural styles of Federal, Italianate, and Renaissance and share with neighbors, get them to care.

I've worked with many investors who sought a life style change and wanted to take a more passive role in their real estate.https://www.biggerpockets.com/member-blogs/7993/48729-are-yo...

The cash you get form either of those options helps to cover the down payment on future purchases.After you have purchased a few homes and have a good chunk of change you can get into 5+ units and start using DSCR to buy apartment style homes where you can focus on affordable living options and things like section 8.

always 20% or greater. we do it with our profit in columbus OH. it's all about the land, density, and floorplan size. get someone who has more experience in design and agency and development. development has been doing this for years and years so just stick to what works. compact, three story walk up style is what we build for investors and ourselves. 

But find a rental model that feels comfortable to you (house-hacking, it seems?)

I'm not sure if it's because I started searching and now I see a lot for Akiya related content, but with Anton's book that was released about 30 days ago, the ONLY English book about rebuilding Akiyas, I think there will be some shift in investing in these older style homes. 

Leverage of getting people to do things for free = taking advantage lolBut I know what you mean.Was never really my style though 

Obviously, I don't know anything about your finances, so for all I know, you may have a few million in the bank, and this project is just a fun experiment that wouldn't even be a drop in the bucket if it all turns south...but, regardless, you'll want to model out what would happen if this project crashes and burns...As you may know, managing a rental in a D to F area (or even a C area) is usually not recommended (for many reasons), and funding a rehab with credit cards is also usually not recommended (again, for many reasons). ...even highly experienced investors often won't touch anything lower than C grade because of all the difficulties of managing and re-selling them...If you're dead set on rehabbing the place and keeping it, I'd strongly suggest studying up thoroughly on the local rental market and tenant pool (e.g.; rent medians and lower and upper bounds, typical days on market before securing a tenant, local vacancy rates, tenants' typical income, education level, employment opportunities, credit, and rental history).

You could also have 40k cars a day on the road but on your side of traffic have only 10k and 30k is on other side.You could also have a big breakfast, lunch, or dinner model and have your property on the wrong side of the road for that ( going home side versus going to work ).I can go on and on have specialized in this for decades.

The same way we attack any debt we don't want to anchor us anymore- by punching it in the face with large principal payments.We buckle down, make our own coffee, brown bag our lunch and eat/drink at home or bring a picnic to the park Dave Ramsey style.