But when I say full gut and rehab I'm talking: taring everything down to the studs, updating plumbing and electrical throughout, probably upgrading the panel, adding duct work for heating and cooling, new mechanicals (boiler, A/C, etc) , hardwood floors, new kitchen, new dry wall and insulation, paint, finish work, etc.

If you don’t want to invest locally I’d say choose Memphis.

(and borrow the $$ from the person with cash in their IRA) Russell, congrats on choosing real estate as a profession. 

Multi-family is usually a quick turn around, some paint, carpet and rent it out.  

I was very attracted to their home remodeling templates, in which you can choose from a number of different room designs and download all the necessary materials/SKUs for the contractor to do the job.

Re-paint a couple of bedrooms, clean the carpet, general cleaning and it's ready to rent.

PM looking to not rent to him, so choose what he thought was a way to eliminate him by creating a financial barrier. 

Lots of markets to choose from.I’m guessing you’re finding investing locally isn’t going to work.

I have put architectural grade shingles on houses where everyone else had plain old 3 tabs and since my houses always showed better than others in the neighborhood, paint etc, I feel I got my money's worth.

There aren't many 2 car garages in the area that are this usable (some are mostly unusable).Initial Repairs: $7-10k (mainly new paint, carpet, lower cabinets in the kitchen, glass block in basement and upstairs bathroom, updating bathroom)Expected Rent: $700/mo (probably doing Section 8)Expenses = $310/mo (based on items below).10% Property Management: $70/mo10% repairs/maintenance: $70/moRE Taxes: $35/moInsurance: $57/mo10% Cap X: $70/moI've used different real estate calculators but since they ask for the information differently I seem to be getting different numbers for my cash on cash returns and cash flow.