Going to attempt to summarize everything up to this point.Current Stage of construction: FramingWe purchased this lot about 3 years ago for $6000Have built 3 homes in this same neighborhood, this is our 4thTook about 6 months of re-zoning to allow for a variance in the rear of the property so we could maximize the size of the home, mainly to accomadate a master bedroom downstairsLot was vacant, cleared out a few trees and started on the foundation, concrete slabAltered the plan a bit so that the patio faced east instead of north, thus making it open to the patio.Project Description: 2-story home, 3 bed, 2.5 bath, 1 office, 1 game room/4th bed2808 sqft,  Lot  6,568 sqft        

If I summarize your question and some of the following comments I think the question is, "Is Las Vegas still a good place to invest?" 

@Nick Orr re your question on how to grade neighborhoods/areas, below is a chart from Account Closed that I think does a nice job summarizing how he thinks about neighborhoods/area grades.

I'll try and summarize my personal views.Ideally, you:Invest yourself in like propertiesDo, or have worked as a property managerHave worked with out of state investors before.  

So, to summarize, take action and start looking, but don't pull the trigger unless you're very confident you've got a great deal.

To summarize, HELOC for investments. 

And I probably know exactly the thoughts, challenges, questions, and information overload, etc. that you might be feeling and experiencing right now.And I know the "iceberg" and the "elephant" seem very daunting right now.What helped me go from buying a duplex to buying 100+ unit deals is boiling down this business into 2 simple things, Deals and Dollars.I share more of this approach in a thread if you want to read, I quit my CPA Job to buy Large Apartment BuildingsTo summarize though, the road ahead for you will most likely have many twists and turns, challenges and setbacks.

Summarize quickly and get to the point.  

Well done summarizing the pros and cons.

To summarize, if you are planning on putting the minimum amount down, you probably won't get a very high ROI and may want to consider a live in flip.Feel free to add me or send me a PM if you want more input.