Quote from @James Boreno: One of my SFH caught on fire and I'm in the process of selling it to a contractor.

I can certainly touch all of them in a long version of the story & analysis with ample details, but that would take me a while to write.

I'm interested in the answers here.

With absolutely no prior experience investing in real estate, I'm getting to the point/age where retirement from corporate America is getting closer and closer, however I still have 2 kids to put through college over the next 2-6 years.

They expect you to live in one unit, BUT I have never heard of anyone from the lender go and  check in on you to see if you are actually living there. 

While I have none in this market I have been on one realtors monthly newsletter with market analysis for over 8 years. 

(This assumes you have a credit card available to pay for any repairs.).

Gino this recently changed in Louisville!

@Jesse Simmons  I did a similar deal as this in the past. 

It goes to your preference, of course, but whichever can produce the greatest ROI should be considered.There are many markets in Michigan, for example, where it is cheaper to buy an existing house and fix it up than it is to build new.That may not be the case where you are at or through the construction suppliers and contractors you may have access to.To Your Success!