I cannot get past having ~$500k invested to get $1800/month rent.  

Born and raised in BC but thinking of investing out of province for my first investment rental property.

I am in the very early stages of looking at a commercial property to invest in.

I have been investing for 3 years and so far my cash flow percentage (out of total rental income) is around 1.5%.

The real comparison to make would be between the returns you can get in your retirement account using leverage vs the returns you could get if your account does not use leverage.Taking the funds out of the retirement account as an early distribution can result in taxes approaching 50% based on a few factors.

I am located in Virginia and invest all over the state.

DO NOT wait for them to moveout because if they don't you will have more time invested.

The biggest challenges in fix-and-flip investing often involve securing reliable financing with favorable terms.

However, like any investment, when you are familiar with the process, markets, people, etc., you learn how to mitigate that risk. 

I’m totally new to investing (24yr old) and I have about 10K saved.