@Justin Triplett  It's great that you are pursuing a marketable degree. 

Theoretically if getting a hard money loan is expensive and risky you could characterize ANY loan as expensive and risky, they're just varying degrees.

I work from home, so I have the ability to manage the property to a degree.

We typically will also have the lawn care and pest control included in the rent to maintain a higher degree of control on the property but that's obviously an expense. 

So I am getting close to finishing my Bachelors degree and am looking to find my way into the Real Estate as I have a great interest in Real Estate Investing.

As you said, it's hard to find 2% property in Chicago especially if you don't do some degree of repair. 

This last said that she has cancer, but when she opened the door, it was pure nicotine! 

I have found a college that offers a real estate studies degree and I'll use the military's education benefits to pay for it.

I have a mathematics degree along with my masters in finance, with a concentration in real estate.

The trick there is to only fix what you ought to - that's a deadly mistake almost everyone makes to some degree so, never stop considering it - I can't stress that point enough.My advice to you is to buy a duplex in the best physical condition you can afford, in the best neighborhood you can afford, for starters.