Of course, you need to read The Ultimate Beginners Guide to REI here on BPIf you haven’t already, please read/listen to these books ASAP!

I want to impress this guy from the beginning, as I'm ultimately going to try to convince him to sell me (and my partners) his property. 

Ultimately, I'd like to retire from my current job in 2-3 years and do investing full time. 

I am REI newbie trying to gain knowledge and save money in efforts to reach my RE goals house hacking 2 flats.The BP community is very friendly and informative.

Just in time to save a but load of taxes when I sell my current duplex (owner occupied). 

Good as it looks, I reckon the main reason they're not more popular is that even if they'd built a traditional home on the same site, costing $100k more, it may easily have resulted in a justified $899k asking price ie. the same profit as doing it the container-way.Makes more sense for you if you're also the end buyer/occupier, saving a genuine $100k!

After all was said and done it showed me walking away with $40,107.50 (my target goal was $40,000 profit).The final numbers were:Purchase $91,500.00Renovations $73,587.97Sold Price $250,000.00After closing costs, give back and all in the profit $67,571.60So the largest area of savings was in regards to AC.

I know this question has been asked before, but I'm hoping to get specifics on how I can compare numbers between 1.) purchasing a primary residence VS 2.) saving for my next buy & hold investment.Background:  I live near the beach in Los Angeles.

Be sure to check out the Ultimate Beginners Guide under the "Education" tab and check out the Podcasts.  

You'll also have an advantage because your wife can save you some money in agent commissions and use that to negotiate when you go to purchase your investment properties.