Then just 1031 the remaining profit.  

Many say that buying for appreciation is simply gambling.

They should not use any 3rd parties.Try looking at:What to Ask When Working With a Turnkey ProviderandThe Best Types of Markets for Profitable Turnkey Properties

I can invest $150-200k of my own money and my goal is to be able to make at least $50k/yr profit within 2 years. 

Can be very profitable but have to be willing to deal with the probable headaches and be cut out for managing in those neighborhoods, unless you are hiring property management of course.

Yeah, on the face, discount properties seem like the way to go, but then comes the maintenance, tenant problems, and that equals little profit.

The Arrangement*Jack* and I met a few weeks ago, have a lot in common, and want to flip a house and share the profits 50/50. 

The alternative is a mound system, which you can expect will run 6 figures to install.I have heard stories of parks that make very little money, if any, because the pump truck expenses eats all the profit. 

From estimates received from contractors it might be a maximum budget of $30K to do a garage conversion where I'll rent it out as a 1bd/1ba for about $700 monthly or make it into an AirBnB that can average $2k a month.OR use the 30K to use as a downpayment on a new property with a mortgage but I feel the profits would be less in this market along with the rising interest rates.

And, it's very profitable right now to add value at low cap rates.