Approaches such as subcontracting the work rather than hiring a GC, competitive bidding it, and purchasing materials yourself may make it a more do-able venture.

and it really depends on the market your in... but if you can scale flipping or building to the point your making 500k to multi millions a year which is certainly doable. even after tax if you can keep your personal expenses at a modest 20k a month your still putting 200 to 500k a year into your bank account that's far more than you could ever do trying the slow roll of building a small rental portfolio.. but as stated if you can get scale in rentals and LIke that kind of thing that will work.. other wise buy the top end stuff as stated and let the tenant pay it off so you have a real asset at the end of the day not a home that was 50 years old when you bought it and 20 years later is functionally obsolete and a money pit..

I was originally told it should be do-able at 50% LTV.

(I'm under the impression that I do not want to "snooze" and get the property under contract IF it is a good deal.)2.

Anything less is doable but will be hit-or-miss until you can get a deal or two and re-invest in a bigger budget.

These numbers are doable, but some markets are harder than others. 

Is it still doable or I am just having a Dream that will never come true.

I planned on hanging up bandit signs in the wee hours of the morning... well my alarm clock went off and I hit snooze and it never rang again and once i Finally did wake up I was upset at myself.

But, it's doable.

While those are doable, and some people build their entire business model around control w/out ownership, there are drawbacks to that.