Also Chip and Joann Gaines and put this town on the map with their show on TV.

If your portfolio is large enough, 5% is better.Now, some people believe that this diversification reduces the chances for a large gain.  

And, the longer you wait to act, the longer the squatter stays - and even gains some legal protections to stay while your waiting on a slow court system to act on an eviction. 

If I got a home equity loan for Property 1 and used the proceeds as downpayment for Property 2 and then got a 2nd loan for the remaining 75% purchase price for Property 2, when I sell Property 2, can I use the Property 1 loan as part of the cost basis for computing Property 2 capital gains?

I think there will be a market for it and you will gain some market share, but I don't think there will be tons of profits coming in.

Over time, as you gain more experience and capital, you can consider expanding into multifamily properties once you've built up a solid foundation in real estate investing. 

*As a side note, I think maybe it would be fun also to try and identify where new technology or machine-learning driven approaches could increase efficiency in the spaceAs for my financial situation, personally, I have around 50k saved but 20k of it is tied up in assets I don't want to pay capital gains tax on.

I'm excited to take some of those pictures and see how it improves.Something we have done that seems to gain attention is our first image is a collage of 4 of our top photos plus the property name and marketable info.

This type of property tends to gain value quicker than older properties.Best of luck in your search, let me know if I can help.

4) would this also work to defer gains on fix and flips?