He made a lot of money and the developer is the “hated” villain but my initial protege knew what the land was going to be used for.  

@Ashly FrassoRenting by the room can be a profitable but complex model.

However if you are looking at commercial properties a lot of them will be owned by corps and then it will still be hard to find the actual owners!

It's tough to work with corporate seller's.However, there is a TON of investable inventory in the Atlanta market right now that is institutionally owned where there process is very ridged.

Yes BP is the right place.

In a city like Philly, you will face many challenges - you need to learn the market and know the neighborhood and the block and make sure all of your numbers are within reason, you need very reliable contractors, you need a to understand the permit process, you need to be familiar with market expectations. 

What do you bring to the table and what do you need from a partner?

The Idea is to create a new real estate asset class - the Room Condo. 

I have flipped new homes and townhomes but phased out raising a family and now am focused on utilizing my skills which are building, selling, expanding a circle of influence to focus my effort on the above.

Need a lender who understands that clean title will only occur on the day of closing.