If you're set on investing out of state, whatever market you decide to invest in it'll be important to develop your core-4: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/core-four-real-estate-tea... 

Don't say a new build with a builder buy down, that's missing the forest for the trees. 

The outside drain still has some cast iron pipe with some small tree roots in it and I plan to get a plumber to clean and reline the pipes with that blue stuff.

In fact the one I always stayed at was under an old Fig tree outside & the Burek for breakfast was to die for.

And evaluating the track record is a call that's made first by the taxpayer or their CPA, and ultimately by an IRS auditor (should one get involved). it is very true that the IRS cares about intent with respect to capital gains in real estate -- I've certainly seen cases where the statutory timelines were less important and the identified intent of the investor.with respect to determining whether you qualify as a developer or an investor, it's much more of a "forest" than the "trees"...so holding any given investment for 14 months prior to a flip is certainly no guarantee of receiving long-term capital gains treatment.I hope this helps.  

Cleared completely overgrown acre of trach trees, opened up the exterior space, put in aggregate driveway and parking spots for 4 vehicles.

My point is that maybe you’re focusing on numbers that may be unrealistic, and missing the forest for the trees.

But you can pay $5,000 on some training course to make it sound like money falls from trees when trying to be a wholesaler or implement your idea.

I would be interested to see the PriceLabs market data on the 3 markets you've mentioned, and how they compare to Gatlinburg, TN or Joshua Tree, CA.  

You will need to get a local, rockstar Realtor, contractor, lender, and property manager.https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/core-four-real-estate-tea...