@Edward E Ashley Welcome to BP.

Hey @David E Fitzgerald IVIll shoot you a message too!

Although having my first property within 30 minutes would be ideal, home prices are expensive and the market is still very competitive in this area.

That's not an ideal investment.

So far, we know we can't accept gifts without putting that person on the mortgage too (which is not ideal for terms) and we can't use hard money lenders because they won't be in first position.

The most ideal situation would be to take a flight and visit everytime I want to make a deal but this becomes costly.

We have considered house hack a multi, but it's not ideal for us and not a lot where we are right now.Thanks!

Ideally, once the rehab and construction is complete, it automatically converts to a perm loan (thereby avoid the need to refinance the property). 

Ideally I'd find a finance partner looking to hold a 3 year balloon note for $420k with a 30 year amortization and 8-10% interest, how do I find somebody like that?

Yes, this would be for a 6-month hold on my end (ideally) for a purchase price of 187k and ARV of 280k.