@Bob Wolf we are tracking the YoY trends closely with MLS data, as opposed to the fear-mongering/ clickbait that's out there.

This is my first post on here and excited to share my real estate investing journey with the best partner in the world, my wife.. we are looking into buying our first investment property via hard money.

I am an out of state investor.How have dealt with this issue>Neal Schadler There are multiple property managers in the "build your investing team" section that can help here. 

Great to know your making moves again this year.

We would take this house in return for a 500k property that is NNN leased.  

Establishing the LLC in IL first does not provide any additional benefits in this scenario.

Never built in Houston before so take my feedback with a grain of salt but I'd put money on it being impossible to build a duplex from scratch for $125 a foot (including everything from drawings, engineering, permit fees, general conditions, labor, material, landscaping).Out here in AZ the builder cost is going to be $200 a foot at best, but add 20% on top of that for the client cost.

Is there anyone out there with any advice?

Many avenues to help you do as much or farm out parts of the deal making that you are not proficient in.  

I love this approach.