I have a lotof years in the mortgage business and am trying to tackle Real Estate Investing.

I’m writing this today to see if any of you all have a game plan or roadmap we should follow to build our capital so that we can tackle better deals.

I have replaced many of the runs--largely the copper is at end of useful life, but also I have some electrolysis where an earlier owner hung the copper with a dis-similar metal and there is heavy corrosion.I also insulated all pipes and ventilate well in summer, cover vents for freeze months.And I had the PEX bid, two... but have not tackled it just yet...

Should I tackle the house that I feel has the better potential as my first purchase? 

This increases the value of the homes by about $30,000.I have been using the @J Scott book on estimating rehab costs and have been able to tackle pretty much every other expense aside from this.I already factored in the additional square footage when I came up with costs for flooring, sheetrock, insulation, painting, doors, windows throughout the whole house.This particular carport has already had work done to as seen in the pictures below and there was additional siding left behind as shown in the pictures below.I know it is difficult to get an exact figure, but what is a ballpark amount?

My agent was going to have a talk with the listing agent tomorrow, but she said she wasn't going to talk about price much.I guess everyone tackles this differently.

Carpets need ripped out, walls need painted, windows need replaced, wood floors need refinished, kitchen and bathroom need updating, etc, etc.What order do you begin to tackle each project?

You may want to find an agent that specializes in these (I'm one of them), or a similarly non-REO distressed situation before trying to tackle an REO listing agent.

If I can realistically tackle the rehab then I will take title. 

Happy to offer any knowledge you may need about masonry or chimney projects you may be tackling during a flip.