What’s required for success in this is deep knowledge of real estate in general and the area in particular; experience in real estate and the local laws, etc.; and capital to pay for options, marketing, legal counsel, accounting, tax advise, etc.  

I’m getting re-acquainted with the BP community after purchasing my first house hack in the Pittsburgh area, and would love to make some connections with other like-minded young professionals and investors in the area.And if there’s anyone out there who’s just getting started and looking to make the jump to buy their first property, I’d love to offer up advice, share my network of contractors in the area, and answer any questions that I can from my experience over the last 6 months!

You both clearly have experience dealing with this firsthand, and I want to see if there's a way to balance enforcement with profitability.

Nobody ever went broke over a duplex, I know this now,  but I have to admit I had some serious doubts about this when I started 16 years ago, I bought every course I could find, already on CD's, this was post cassette tapes lol, and I paid RichDad Education for a one year coaching program (turned out my coach was a girl in a call center without any actual experience). 

Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences.

In my experience it is common and customary for the landlord or builder to provide TIA, tenant improvement allowance, to the tenant to assist if not cover the majority of the internal buildout. 

It would just need to be a situation where they have great contact with the person doing that managing of the project (I.e. have known the person for years, great reputation, person has experience in flipping etc.).

The other is Rick H (https://www.biggerpockets.com/users/rtpg1) he's also commented on quite a few title issue/ AP/messy deal threads over the years and has quite a bit of experience. 

New agents can often compensate for lack of experience with enthusiasm, professionalism, hard work, or even their good looks.

Hindsight and a few decades of experience has taught me that with a good lawyer I would have been in the clear completely.