A unique brand is also more flexible in case you want to change your strategy/location or if the "We Buy Houses" line stops being effective in your area.  

Your partner will need a solid relationship with a local/regional bank to get through construction, cash, & experience.  

Its a great place to live, and a very unique area.

My first attempt in the US market took me to the Finger Lakes Region to a four storey downtown vacant property.

You generally won't achieve 2% on houses north of $50,000 except in some war zones and distressed regions.50% guide simply states that 50% of your gross rents will go to expenses over the life of the rental, of the remaining 50% take out debt service then you have your income.Rent $1600, means $800 a month will be eaten up in expenses, capital, maintenance, insurance, legal, accounting, utilities etc.If the area isn't too bad (no bars over windows, you feel safe walking there) it seems pretty decent to me, then again I am comparing that to whatever you can get in SoCal right now.Andrew

I'd say leave it alone, vacant land carries very little risk, unless there are unique issues about the property or location.

Thanks for the welcome everyone :)Since yesterday I've got some newer goals besides getting a job:- to learn the market in my region- to learn how to estimate a comp- to learn how to estimate after repair value- to learn how to estimate repairs- build a buyer's list

Is the bank local, regional, or national??

But I think it's somewhat a unique circumstance since he has already "moved out" his stuff.

- Have at least one unique feature in every property to separate it from the competition and save on idle time.