As an Accountant and CFO with two decades of experience in real estate management, I’ve observed that landlords often handle things differently.

We were able to create a great coworking lounge as well as build out a great entertaining space on the rooftop for stargazing, yoga, movie nights, dancing, great food, drinks and ocean and city views.It was in decent condition, just a lot of deferred maintenance, Has appreciated.

Will be an open air rooftop.  

One of the biggest risks I observe with flips and first time investors are instances where the project goes over budget or gets stuck in mud, can't sell and even worse the borrower doesn't have the credit profile to refinance out to a lower interest lending source if borrower is required to hold the property as a rental. 

After many years of observing, I've finally got a house hack under contract. 

I have observed clients who have purchased properties based on the 1% rule but have struggled to stabilize them.

Thank you Chris for taking the time to elaborate on your observations.

CA #'s, that's been my observation of things.

In the past I observed older people who were in and I loved how they rollled.

I would echo what others have said - 100% start locally because you need to gain an appreciation for what it means to be an investor, understand the lifecycle of a deal and be on the ground to observe what's going on with renovations etc.