Having a long-term rental while living abroad is do-able.Flipping houses while abroad, in my opinion, more difficult, especially if its your first go around with real estate.I would recommend taking a flight and staying in the area for a week and inspect the neighborhoods and make connections.You can reach out to @Elenis Camargo who has a PM company in Jacksonville.Best of luck though.

The IRS is taking a more conservative approach and you want to ensure you have all your ducks in a row + a team behind you to back you up if something comes into question.

You can't really be a true car salesman type In Real Estate.

I assume a higher upfront cost as far as land purchase and the actual build but you would have a brand new house, instant equity and hopefully maintenance free for quite a while.

My wife and I have overhauled our personal budget to reflect the 'pay yourself first' approach (allocate in order: income comes in -> invest -> donate -> fixed expenses -> variable expenses -> fun $$).We are looking to see what experienced people generally recommend for a holding tank for that 'invest' allocation while we target our first real estate deal.What financial vehicles have you guys used that works well for this?

Hey Stefano Vrolijk,Speak with a local mortgage broker and get pre-approved for a loan. 

The only other option I see is a short sale, if you don't need to purchase for a few years and don't mind a temporary credit hit to save the $60k.  

A “syndication” is almost always a capital raise for the sale of a security/investment.  

It's always a scam.

A good lender will give you the time to review terms and ask questions.