It's 20 years later, we've had a major housing recession, and I'm in the Southeast now (Alabama).

The problem though is that all the properties that could have a chance of being profitable are being bought up by the local developers and contractors that already have bigger pockets than myself.

Finding a builder in a hot market is difficult, especially one that can handle a project of this size and will allow you to make a profit.

What I like about this deal is, the major cap ex's have been handled, and there is still meat on the bone to increase the cash flow by filling the vacancies.

Because we did the majority of the work ourselves, the total rehab budget wound up being around $30,000 (which includes adding a deck, fencing in the huge back yard, fixing the driveway and adding a paver front walkway.)

I'd had the assumption that i'd buy a rental using a HELOC on my primary residence, and then financing subsequent rentals with a LOC/leverage on that rental property (something I assumed the majority of rental owners are doing now).  

The majority of the office space is leased to tenants that have all been there 10+years with recently renewed 3 year leases.  

I am currently in my last year of college at Hood College where I am majoring in Business Finance, and minoring in Economics.

The property is in Baton Rouge and the surrounding areas were majorly flooded a few weeks ago, so contractors are overwhelmed right now with flood repairs (this property did not flood).

Good luck finding a niche in the market, but taxes in long island must make it difficult to be profitable for landlords.