I really like the idea of owning this property because it is in a nice location, I can collaborate with my Dad's beach house in case any renter needed additional rooms or wants to rent out 2 houses next to each other (my Dad said he would rent his place out too) , decent sized lawn on the property, and the house needs to be fixed up on the interior (wood paneling/new dry wall, old carpets, out dated furniture, and older appliances).

I have a junked car I may park in front of the door, so no furniture can be moved in.So, should you feel confident dealing with Hubzu, or Altisource, or Ocwen.

In both scenarios we are waiting to buy our home last because my husband is concerned that buying a home now will make it difficult to save for the investment property i.e. cost of furniture, maintenance of home, mortgage, etc....

I found the deal and negotiated our purchase price with the absentee owner, offered to split profits 50/50 if they financed both the purchase and rehab costs, I offered to do all manual labor (landscaping, minor hauling of existing furniture, shoveling snow, DIY repairs, cleaning house before showings, etc). 

Consider staging the house with furniture, but at a bare minimum put a stove and refrigerator in the kitchen.

I've toyed with the idea of a top of line one that even does temp control, but I could never justify the price and I didn't like the looks of them.I talked with an amazing custom furniture builder (modern furniture) that I know.  

He is also throwing in all his furniture.

Having that feature in the living room is going to mean wet-people-everywhere so your furniture wear-and-tear will likely be off of the charts.4.)

I probably spent $3-4k (haven't added it all up yet) taking a nice normal family home and sprucing it up for high-end rental- that's new linens, a few pieces of new accent furniture and lamps, pillows and pillow top mattress covers, lots of deep cleaning, a new sofa bed, a new king bed, etc.

Same goes for office equipment and furniture.