-any red flags to look out for?

However, if I can finance the purchase price, that puts me in a much better cash position to get the work done myself (perhaps by a licensed GC), but without the red tape. 

Can anyone tell me what they look for in a promising property ad, that will send either red flags or green?

Any red flags and what are some good things?

When the bank sees the name blacked out on the bank statement, BIG red flag.

So as you can already see, after all is said and done I'm pretty deep in the red each month.Anyway, I look forward to learning from everyone here and I'm VERY excited to get started!

If you are cash flowing 200 a month then one big item will make you go red for the year.

We have been working and reviewing the market for the past six months and during that time watch the market become close to red hot with available units becoming more and more scarce weekly.  

Use the red 3m double side tape.

Any provider that has iffy numbers or is just estimating (read: making things up because they don't actually track anything), or refers to things like appraisals as 'red-tape' is a non-starter.Regarding your questions about portfolio building, I think @Chris Virgil-Stone made some good points.