There are cheaper one’s in D/F areas but I would be careful as those can create a laundry list of additional issues.

It is cheaper with better financing to purchase a property with an existing ADU than add one.  

Given the general importance placed on cash flow, is my line of thinking incorrect and therefore should buy something cheaper or look more into duplex etc?

I find if I do the "heavy lifting" like drawing out a system and or the floor plan of the cabin, you can find a guy to do the "official" work fast and for a cheaper price than if you sit back and do nothing.

I'll talk about this next.2) Deal structure: Currently, the types of deals that have experienced huge distress or imploded , have generally been the ones that were very aggressively structured.Floating rate debt is cheaper, but come with the risk that interest rates rise.

Could I have learned what I learned during that 1-year program for a lot cheaper by reading books and articles.

Cheaper, easier, faster.

This can be far cheaper than having an in-house project manager to do this for you.Based off your statement "this will be my first time managing a renovation out of state", it looks like you are familiar with the renovation process.

I had one of my borrowers leave me for a HML who was of course cheaper. and this HML assigned all their paper / or at least his paper to Peer st.

So it’s easier for me to obtain a new loan for a primary residence through my VA loan, which is why buying a home for me vs buying a rental property would be cheaper upfront.