@Derrick Holmes, first off, welcome to BP the bestest of all REI sites...I would commence by warning you off of land, as an investor that bought, sold, rehabbed, subdivided and rezoned land both raw and improved, it's by far the trickiest of all real estate endeavors; HENCE more rewarding.

I have no debt (car paid off, no credit card debt, no student loan debt) and pay no mortgage on my current home, so the $3k is unburdened cash. 

Yes, even if the OF deal isn't on your credit, it would reflect on your bank statements and your tax returns.Biggest tip - get the property appraised so you don't overpay.  

So going with your plan you have two years to get credit.

Before having any tenants sign a new lease with you, make sure to complete your standard tenant screening and run background checks, credit reports, etc. on the tenants.

As for my experience, having a 800 credit score really helped me in being approved by a 2nd Mortgage.

Another option is talk to a local credit union and have them do a construction loan.  

Hi @Ryan Woodward,Do you know how to calculate marginal ROI on fixes/improvements to REO?

There is one way of lowering your NJ property taxes, if you were in the military like myself, NJ provides a tax credit.

 I would like to buy a $75,000 home putting 25,000 of my own cash into it and putting the remaining 50,000 on a business line of credit at 7% interest what do you think