In the mean time, keep your eye on the market and evaluate as many properties as you can in the next few months before you get there to determine how frequently you see the 'good deals' come up compared to the rest of the market and how long said 'good deals' are on the market before getting tied up in contract.  

I'm new to the investment world as well I will be closing my first deal in by the end of the month I was also temped to buy far away due to a cheaper price range but I came to realize how important and valuable my time was and factored that into the cost of the project and decided to wait until something came up closer to me , I too have spent a year or two talking about investing and getting excited about it but never pulled the trigger , don't be afraid to wait and network with everyone you can in your local area , I made friends with just about everyone I could so I could get the most information even though I feel my network is small It has been a powerful tool for me

You can in theory continue to expand as long as you want to with it, whereas with TK you stop when you run out of available cash (until you save up enough for the next down payment).

Meet as many people as you can in the industry, and take action!

My advice to you is to read as much as you can.  In

My deals are pretty fat on the profit side so I dont mind 12% which I have paid to lendinghome for a project last year...but I always strive to find better and better opportunities to increase margins..

I’m willing to look in CA, but I’m not sure I can find the same cash flow that I can in other parts of the country.

,let alone lend you another $20k interest free.....fat chance.

@Jay Helms may have some great input as he's done a BRRR with an apartment building as well.To my knowledge, you can BRRRR the same way in commercial as you can in residential, simply because it's Buy distressedRehabRefinanceRepeat

Why, because the Listing Agent can then probe the buyer to get info and/or after their "Preferred" lender sees the buyer's situation and has no solution for a mortgage, believe me, that buyer is "out like the fat kid in 5th grade dodge ball!"