Ever since, I have learned that people are a big piece of this puzzle and emotions should come into the equation (in my opinion).  

Piecing projects together as tenants move out sounds great on paper but in real life it annoying and expensive.

A modular home was made in a factory and shipped out in pieces and put together on property.

One more piece of advice: setup a f*ck ton of MLS auto-emails for yourself to alert you of potential deals.

Peace of mind is the last piece of the puzzle.

It's rented to top-notch tenants; an MD resident, a doctoral student, and a physician's assistant--all of whom are the best tenants imaginable.It all boils down to: take the house that nobody wants (but which is in the best neighborhood in town), and turn it into the house that everyone wants.Of course, the downside of this approach is that there's a lot that can go wrong when changing the floorplan/functionality of a property...tearing down walls often isn't as simple as HGTV would have us believe.

I'm ideally looking for a modest house that my family and I can live in, on a good size piece of land that I can put kit A-frames on.

Do you think it's worth starting small, piece mealing and managing costs - or going all in? 

We are experienced in hosting here on Kauai for many mainland owners who wish to own a piece of paradise and make some money when they're not on island.

However, getting PM experience is a fundamental piece of becoming a successful RE investor.