Just go in with the expectation that it is going to be an incredible amount of work with very little to show for it in your first few months.   

I agree with the 1031 exchange approach if you are wanting to stay in real estate.Regarding the pending crash...I am not sure if there will be a crash but I am expecting a slow down if rates rise 2-3 times this year and then 3 more times in 2019. 

Their future home is not going to be available until then, they would be sleeping in a hotel, so the closing time frame was incredibly important to them.

Now buy and holders (if it approaches the 1% rule) and owner-occs could be interested. 

If you're interested in out-of-state strategy, I'm happy to share my approach.

They approached me with the deal because they couldn't get the math right nor a bank to finance the project the way they had structured it with the seller. 

A coworker of a family member approached me about buying a house and renting it to her with a lease option as she has bad credit (but a good job).

I'll share our first "true" flip and how that rolled into an incredible Brrr and then rocketed our investing business. 

They approached me with the deal because they couldn't get the math right nor a bank to finance the project the way they had structured it with the seller.

@Justin R.Your CPA is being moderately conservative, and your QI is being extremely conservative.Nothing is wrong with either approach - as long as you knowingly choose the relative safety of a conservative approach over the financial benefits of a more aggressive approach.