Currently live in a townhome style condo in South Riding, VA, but due to relocate within the year (active duty USAF, enlisted).  

I presented the following scenario to him:- My current self-employment income is as a sole proprietor- While not currently formed, I would look to create an LLC for real estate purposes soon- My self-employment income is small and possibly will not be recurring, so I considered other possible self-employment income streams- I have not done any flips to date (just BRRRRs), but once I do, I would look to do them in an LLC- I also have potential real estate self-employment income in another fashion.  

My realtor wasn't interested in going along for the ride b/c we would do an FHA 203k for rehab and he thought it was a lot of work for the small commission and long time line to close.

Based on your stage in investing you have no true idea what your cash flow is so you would be best to ride things out for a while.

You can ride all markets with these type of properties! 

How do I convince the seller to hang on for the ride?

Just not enough rental runners here doing it the hands-on fixer old-fashioned blood, sweat, tears, and toil way.

What I am hoping for is for different opinions and perspectives on our path, this community amazes me and I feel lucky to have found it.Thank you all for reading this horribly long post Thanks for sharing your story.Scott Trench is : single, very frugal, rides a bike to work, and bought in a market starting at the bottom of a recession onward that experienced tremendous appreciation.

If I would have found Bigger Pockets when i was in college, I would have called around and found a successful developer, property manager, and/or real estate investor and asked them if I could ride around with them and learn the business. 

Even in a down turn you can ride the California waves, buy more and keep on trekking.