Have you spoken with a property manager about rental rate to confirm they can rent the home for $2,500?

You can bid higher than the asking price and make a lot of money immediately, but you have to understand what true cost to the REI is, and how to arrange the flow of money to and from the REI...through the deal first.3 - What a REI plan is, how to design one specific to the REI (not anyone else), and understand that your plan is a series of connected decisions, with each decision you make is based on the criteria needed to lead directly into the next step of your plan. 

That's what I was thinking, so thanks for the confirmation.

Confirm the trends with the realtor for various areas you are scouting.

He recommended that I first hire a designer that will not only design it but also make sure it passes all codes.

You can put it in an LLC with each of you having 25% ownership and one of you designated as the Manager.

She's also an interior designer, STR manager, and general contractor.

Just make sure you take everything you hear with a grain of salt and confirm with other research.

As a structural engineer, I could bore you with all the design guides we use for residential or commercial construction, but if you really wanted to get some good sleep, you could look into the Residential Building Code for a deep dive into codes and standards for the construction of homes.

Might be worth confirming you can get 95% LTV for HELOC.