For a local move if you are on a budget rent a uhaul and get some help and pay with pizza and drinks from friends or what ever floats their boat.After your inspection period start working on planning your work and a rough timeline of how things will flow.

If you would prefer to coordinate the work through a contractor yourself, try to confirm that they do quality work and communicate well so that you are aware of the status since you are not local.

We've used More Than A Carpenter from Boonsboro, MDGreat work and reasonable.

A wise investor will not try to get rich quick with shortcuts.

Zillow, I provided a list of all the work and cost that needed to be done to the house.

I moved into my gf's family's home in October so I could work and save up money.

But, don't get spoiled and think this is how things are supposed to work and expect they will continue to skyrocket.

Unless shooting for the lower down payments, why even bother with all the extra work and guidelines at all? 

I’m familiar with them all from work and hometowns. 

Most plans fail because people look for shortcuts without fully understanding the downside of that.