The home appraised for 1.2M, the deal is anything the home sales for over 1M after the fix up he will split with me minus my costs. he will hold the home while I do the renovations, no home purchase necessary.My question is how do I find the ARV on a high end home so I know if this is worth pursuing? 

if you are going to do things like include utilities, or have an off street parking spot, other amenities etc, there's no reason in my mind you couldn't "charge a premium" for a premium unit/service. 

Your loan would be on a different property so no financing on the property you are buying. 

@Andreas Mathews,Good for you at looking to make a change no matter the age.

I am no expert by any means but I thought I would drop my opinion here. 1) Should I focus on duplex since they're most likely less expensive in my area in category A or B properties, or aim for more units?

There is no "secret" to finding them--- you just have to search, but most major metros have them.

I am single and 42 and doing this all on my own... no one in my family has any experience in the investing side of things, so I am truly starting from scratch.As of April 2025, I will be moving to the Charlotte area (along with my two pups) and putting a renter in my Austin house. 

There is no prepayment penalty. 

Probably no more than 20 max.  

Based on a quick answer from Perplexity it seems like there would be no issue with you buying the home and collecting passive income, but you may not be allowed to manage it yourself since that is considered active work.