A small window already exists in the room at the exterior ground level, so the work will entail digging into the ground and cutting into the wall.

What grounds or options do we have to get her "cousin" to move out?

It sounds like you are definitely committed and ready to hit the ground running!

Reaching out to anyone in the Bigger Pockets community that would love to help a brand new investor pick his feet up off the ground with advice!!

Note: I am a licensed RE in CT who have worked for a full year with rentals only and might consider going back to a brokerage to get more opportunities with first hand deals and be on the ground.   

Based on savings and an upcoming sale of my house here on Hawaii, I’ll have about $300k to try and get my real estate investing off the ground. 

When purchasing a property, what kind of Cash-on-cash return do you guys look for? What numbers make you say, "yes, I'm buying this property," and what numbers make you say, "no, this deal isn't for me." When I analyz...

Oil tank removal and remediation should be the seller's responsibility, not yours, UNLESS you're a very experienced investor getting a tremendous deal sold strictly "as is" where you've waived all your inspection rights.The worst case could be significant soil contamination requiring thousands of dollars in remediation, followed by soil and ground water tests by the state of NJ.

I wanted to build my own home from the ground up and live on a very private piece of land.

My father's entire house burned to the ground because he had a pot belly stove in his basement and his brick chimney has some sort of crack between the floor joists.