I am trying to diligently save to buy properties locally but am getting interested in flipping to supplement my W2 income for a faster entrance into purchasing properties. 

Best way to improve on losses is to supplement your income by house-hacking. 

We have been investing in that area for the last 7 years and I have talked to a lot of UNT student that live even in the Corinth, Lake Dallas, Cross Roads, Little Elm area.UNT housing authority (can't reca the dept name at the moment) is actually on record as renting out local private housing to supplement its dorms...the net effect of that could be considered close to rent control...a situation that we originally considered but backed off after looking at the economic growth around the campus and true demographic we wanted to target.

My goal is to supplement my income and ultimately to replace it.

if you need to supplement the costs further you can consider renting rooms out in the unit that you live in but this typically is only an option for those who need the financial assistance (housemates are often not easy).You learn Property Management, if you like being a landlord, doing repairs and hiring contractors. 

Plus, during the restoration/renovation process, if unforeseen things are discovered, they'll submit a supplemental claim to account for any additional cost.

I can only retire if I am able to supplement my pension income.  

Sell the current primary tax free and use those proceeds to supplement the purchase of the new investment property to bring down your ltv. 

Without the supplemental income on the for sale properties, the value is not there and people are dropping their prices. 

If you have a contractor ready to bring money to the table for the rehab, plus moving money for your cousin, perhaps those funds could be used to cure the loan, then supplement the rehab with hard money?