Save cash and look for a deal the second you turn 18.

Syndicators are "being conservative" and underwriting to 2-5% year 1 cash on cash returns.  

For example, they'd pull 4 of 5 payments for a borrower from the same account and then blamed the borrower for not checking to make sure the payment was pulled before a late fee was assessed.

I've made about 10 offers and almost every time, have been beaten by an all-cash offer or someone forgoing an inspection and closing faster than I'm willing to. 

Purchase price: $250,000 Cash invested: $5,000 This was a property my wife and I purchased to live in while fixing it up with the idea of renting it out.

If you have enough cash I’d pay cash initially due to the auction deadline.

I would say you want to keep your cash to close to $15k or less so you have a little bit of runway if it takes some time to get it rented.How does someone truly manage a property "effectively" from a distance?

Would it make sense to save up money to buy something cash, finance, wait for market to cool down, etc.

Cash to close is around 47-48k with a 5% conventional to house hack.

On the flip side having 2 residences in one building does bring efficiencies from a management/ownership standpoint.Finally, the payment structure you mentioned (30-40% until project completion) is fairly standard for pre-construction properties.