Ideally you would take ownership of the property before ever swinging a hammer (you want to make sure the sweat equity stays yours).As far as divulging the info to a realtor, I wouldn't necessarily be concerned about working with a realtor you trust to obtain comps, but they are likely going to want to represent you in the transaction, or be compensated somehow.I'd love to help you more on this or answer any additional questions you may have. 

Second question the back patio is in rough shape in certain areas, I really don't want to jack hammer up the whole patio, has anyone resurfaced concrete?

Years ago I began remodeling my own homes, hoping to learn about real-estate investment by swinging a hammer.

If its a small job, you can rent an air hammer/chisel and put in some sweat to get it all up.  

Just have to hammer out how it's going to happen.

My Buyers agent and I spent the past few weeks hammering out a purchase on a SFR.

Since you know how to swing a hammer and you won't be home all the time anyway, you can always buy a 4-plex and move into the worse unit to fix up, or ask the previous owner which tenant is the biggest pain in the *** - kick them out and move into their unit and fix it up.I'm just "down the road" in London and we're getting some traction here with a very eager group of BPers, so feel free to join us for a meet up or pick brains on the forums.

If you owned the house for over 1 full year it is taxed at Long Term Capital Gains which is a much lessor rate than if you held it for less than one year.I personally wouldn't recommend doing a 1031 exchange unless your ordinary income is in the top bracket and you will get hammered with taxes.  

I tracked down the commercial property that he abandoned, photographed it, then got a property profile from a title company.Here are some numbers:The gentlemen bought the property in 1988 for $160,000It currently has a tax value of: $825,553, so my guesstimation of its real value is around $900,000 - $1,000,000 +It shows one mortgage at $125,000The zoning is C2It's about 65,000 square feet (1.49 acres)Here is my plan of attack:Talk to my private investor, and get a signed referral memorandum ensuring a finders fee PRIOR to me discussing anything about the property.Hand the deal over to my private investor and let them hammer out the deal.Only when all the numbers have been worked out will we discuss my finders feeAdd my referral memorandum into escrow as demand for paymentThis would be my first deal, so I feel it would be better for me get my finders fee and then watch it from the sidelines- while learning of course!

Again, IF you discriminate based on kids and/or the number of kids, you are subject to the big hammer of the Federal Fair Housing Act falling on you.