He will own 1/2 of about 4M in real estate after 2 years and is already under contract on 2 more developable projects.

Now I've got a property under contract:$78K purchase$35K in development of utilities.$24K in soft costs (permits impact fees etc)$200K (or less) buildout of the house (size tbd on after-build-appraisal) Likely going with 2/2 A frame 1000 sf.

I don't deny that it's tough if you don't have family or contacts of your own, but with enough time and patience, I think it should be possible to develop contacts. 

They are buying NNN single tenant or NNN multitenant retail properties in TX, OK, SC, NC, GA, FL, AL, TN - the states to which the population is migrating and that have business/real estate friendly governments and lower taxes. 

Here are a few things that I like about the neighborhoods in Indy compared to other states: high rent-to-home-value ratio, consistent and gradual city development, relatively low property tax and insurance cost, affordable renovation service cost.From my experience, it's possible to find deals that meet 1% rule if you invest in *turn-key* duplex or SFH here, but they are harder to find, and could potentially slow down you from scaling up.

You have relationship infrastructure and knowledge that took a very long time to develop.  

However, that's in a sparsely populated area.

We don't cover that area, but know that due to lower population density, finding a great PMC is difficult. 

My business partner and I are developing a 60 acre 15-unit glamping/wedding boutique resort in Asheville, NC right now and learning a lot along the way!

How many units are generally in a townhome development?