We closed on a home last June and added the taxes into our spreadsheet $300 higher than they were the previous year since they seem to go up by a little more than half of that each year and wanted to be conservative.

Here it is in a nutshell:He puts up all the money to buy the property in cash and fund any repairs (in this example we'll use $50,000)His wife (a real estate agent) helps find the deal and does the bookkeepingWe split any renovation work not done by a contractor 50/50I am responsible for paying him back $25k, which would come from my half of any cash flow. 

No need to give half the profit away just to get a loan.

Do property values get cut in half?

Especially if I'd like to begin with a flip or two.Any ideas of the easiest beginner route for someone in NYC trying to start out? 

Now it is easier to find good tenants by getting a report on them, a good lease, a month a half security and a landlord/tenant attorney.

I'd rather learn that now vs half way through the job. 

I ended up getting busted for work without permits delayed the project about another month and a half.

When I call them on it I've seen the price literally drop as much as half.

Finishing a property half way between flip and rent doesn't work, it has to be fully one direction or the other to be successful.