I am a General Contractor and have lived in Constantia, I own a house in Cleveland NY and a house in Camden NY. 

When that day happens, I'll pay things down, and enjoy the lower stress levels knowing I have high equity stakes in my investments! 

The bar to get a contractor’s license is also quite low with an open book test and 15 hours or so of education.

My takeaways:- DHL only applies to owned occupied homes- Flippers (defined as reselling within 12 months) had to BE contractors.- Any question of legality, don't do it or have the seller see legal counsel

All as if you're going to do it yourself.That way you'll have a pretty damn good figure of what it costs to remodel a bathroom, replace the flooring in a 1,500 sq ft house, landscape a backyard, etc.That'll be an amazing education for you, and you won't have to take a contractor's word for it when they quote you a price.Also I would get the BiggerPockets book for estimating rehab costs too while you're at it:https://www.biggerpockets.com/store/flipping-estimating-physicalNot the answer you were looking for, but hopefully it's the information you need.

One of the tenant insist they have legal right stay there as M2M tenant ( still enjoy paying $300/mo below market rate) because it is legal 4 families and landlord can't ask them move out even owner occupied or landlord family move in as reason to ask them move out.Please BP nation help us on the situation to deal with the problematic tenant.  

So do your due diligence and make sure that the strategy you know works in California will work in other states as well.If you don't know the area, here's what you'll need:A local real estate agentA loan officer licensed to originate loans in that stateA local property manager (they should have repairmen, contractors, etc. contacts for you)It works best when you have local "boots on the ground" so to speak, meaning friends or family members who can keep an eye on the property for you... which your property manager can do for you, but for a fee.I would recommend reading BiggerPocket's book on long distance real estate investing for a ton of other tips as well: https://www.biggerpockets.com/store/long-distance-real-estate-investing-ultimateIf you have any questions about the Phoenix Metro Area market when you're considering which area to invest in, feel free to reach out and I'll try to get your questions answered or point you in the right direction!

When I am not learning new skills, learning about Real Estate and designing new builds or renos, I am biking or running in my coastal town; I enjoy kayaking, hiking, painting and playing guitar.If any of you know anyone who could use somebody like me in the Boston area, please don't hesitate to message me.

Do you use the agent's contract or your own when making offers to put a house under contract for a wholesale deal?

I have a bunch of different contractors I can call (some licensed, some not), and pricing is mostly about how much they will charge you for labor.