In the few months this couple has lived on their property I've seen their health deteriorate further to the point where the woman now uses a mobility chair.

Owner occupant loans have ways of including/incorporating that "boarder income," but alas investment property loans do not.

Adalanto, CA is a prime example, but it is a separately incorporated city which set up an area specifically for this.  

We have done this before, especially for wheel chair people where you basically build what looks like a speed bump. 

I am strong in finance/accounting (not a tax person though) and love spreadsheets as I used to work in corporate finance.  

In the mentorship program they have a level called arm chair investing when they bring you deals and joint venture for a 65% profit split going to the investor and 35% to the mentorship group.

I will incorporate the principles you've described. 

I'm also going to incorporate the rest of what you've said.

My main point is that being away from your home adds risk and costs to your project that you need to incorporate in your decision process.Yeah 80K is a tough limit to have especially since you are only looking for a cosmetic work in that area perhaps Lynhurst, or farther out.. get on google maps and follow the NJ or LI transit lines away from the city to find something reasonable.You may want to start looking at the sheriff sales, though the times that I went went to the union county sales, if was rough.... you should go to the auctions with out any money just to see the process before you try to bid.And to be fair...

I have some solid experience in personal finance and work in corporate finance for a large publicly-traded company.