Unless they fixed it, apartments.com was having trouble with criminal background checks.

Background: I'm live in south Mississippi and have been doing real estate deals for about 13 years(rentals, STR, fix and flip...).

Quote from @Joel Oh: Your business must make money day 1.It is so much more difficult to fix the model that is not making money than starting a new business that makes money day 1. 

Lower Repair CostsHiring licensed contractors for minor fixes can be costly.

If the latter, I would find 1 distressed property in a good-very good area and fix it up.

I’d fix it up and list it to sell after I’d been there two years to take the gain tax free.

Next week we will close on some property (with an old house in need of fixing or tear down tbd) in Buncombe Co currently with unrestricted zoning.

Tell the tenant (with a firmly written notice) to fix or vacate.

That will give them X amount of time to fix the problem.

His goal is to get as much out of the property as possible and give me an opportunity to do my first fix and flip.