I am able to buy homes at the right price, fully renovate them with all hard-surface floors, new roofs, new HVAC, etc. and still have big ROI!

On the surface, without knowing the actual numbers, that looks like a fine deal.

There are a few trends that look favorable for Bakersfield...Oil....if it holds above 50, it looks like the worst of the pain is behind us.Water....farmers will have ample surface water for the first time in years.  

Yes on the surface that sounds reasonable.

It's not the reputation for violence, that's the national headline and doesn't scratch the surface of the issue.

I don't see on the surface where this financing would be a problem if it was something you wanted to do anyway.

That also does on the surface sound like an extensive and expensive project.I'll still hold that you should not be that close to $200K if there is much that is still usable past what you said.  

Currently living in London, I'm interested in investing out of state particularly in France (just scanned on the surface it seems to be a taboo subject here :) ).So I love force feeding my brain with books, blog posts and taking notes.Looking forward to do learn and do business with you :).

I am sure the right one will surface.  

Being a newbie, I think I wrestle with knowing basically what I want to ask, but struggling to articulate it or think of the questions below surface level.That said, in your examples, I'm initially considering something closer to option 2: equal split, both people involved day to day.