.$30,000 in the bank for investing <--- I would prefer to not max this out though.Credit score >800Debt obligation/month $700 plus $1450 PITIAnnual Income before tax - $50,000Short term Goals: To generate $2,000 residual cashflow per month in the next 4-5 years so that I can put my baby girl into a good school and have a little extra cash for trips/breathing room.

I'd take a trip to your target area and see if you can buy before you leave your job.

I would use the service to compare decisions I'm making like:The choices in my chart of accounts set upBooking my contribution to the LLC as Owner's Equity vs. a loan to the businessHow to account for the trip I took to buy the property.

Also, if you decide to drive, it is .53 1/2 cents per mileage deduction, which for me in Las Vegas, is about 700 round trip, or about $350 tax deduction each trip.

Same can be said for property managers.Make a trip out of visiting a few cities on your list.

Outside SCRA, what other trip-wires or cause for concerns should I be looking for?   

@Wei Mai All good points here, I would highly recommend making a trip to Cleveland or any area you're looking to invest in, and speaking with local investors about their experiences, neighborhoods of interest, etc.

I am actively looking for deals (fix and flips) in the area and have a trip planned Oct 17th.

So brandon's initial 83k loan actually included the purchase price, the closing costs AND some rehab costs.Brandon ended up paying 35k for the rehab when you count the vegas vacation he splurged on for the first craigslist contractor.But basically, had brandon refi'd the house for the full 108k the lender would have loaned, here is how his numbers would have looked.70k purchase2k closing costs on purchase35k rehab and vegas trip (11k of this came from his original 83k loan, the remaining 24k came out of brandon's pocket)Had he refi'd for 108k, the original 83k loan would be paid off as part of the refi closing.

"tax deduction trip" to check on properties also