I’ve been researching for over a year and have knowledge, mentors, and potential funding sources but find pulling the trigger and starting on my own very difficult.

However if you plan on buying 3-4units, there is a trigger rule for FHA, it is called the self sufficiency test.

I have a mortgage on that property.In about 6 months, a family member is going to sell me their house for an extremely reasonable price.

Would you pull the trigger?

This detailed, thorough write-up is an extremely useful, if unsurprising, review.

This is extremely common in the Detroit market, but it seemed very odd to me initially also.You simply put an inspection period in your offer so you can walk it and decide if it's for you or not.In terms of rent rolls, etc. you may not be getting a response on this for the same reason.

I'm not saying that your plan can't work, I'm just pointing out that these types of extremely cheap properties usually come with TONS of unique management and sales challenges that don't occur with more run-of-the-mill properties, so you'll want to study up on those issues and have a game plan before proceeding...regardless of what you decide to do, it may be a good idea to consider how you could leverage this deal as a springboard to get you to other, higher-grade properties......the good news is that you're only $5k into this thing, so you're not in too deep...yet...Good luck out there!

There’s about 8 communities in my primary target area in New England and they’re all considered to be extremely hot real estate markets.

The accounting aspect is a an additional thought I hadn't heard before.I know some people have used this strategy in an attempt to avoid triggering a re-evaluation of property taxes.  

.- Don't drag your contractor around to more than 2 or 3 properties without pulling the trigger on 1 of the deals.