I'm not against profit in real estate, far from it, but buying a property that needs improvements in a high crime area that was worth half the asking price 12 months ago is not a good idea and if it's run down, you won't attract "stable tenants" in a high crime area no matter what you do. 

If you can I would invest in a dilapidated home that you could Fix and Flip and resale for a profit from it and I would invest in a similar way or some other investment that would make you money.   

This way, each month I don't need to set aside money for reserve, and I can then count the "would be" reserve money as part of my profit?

This is one of the most expensive parts of town so I was thinking this could potentially be a very profitable flip even though it is not currently listed for sale.

It's a given that it would cost more than the same trip via a ground car, even if ground transportation doesn't gain its own improvements (which it will - autonomous networked vehicles will make the ground trip safer, faster, and cheaper than present ground transit, and that is *much* closer to a broad implementation than air taxis). 

If I can make it happen it would help the transition. 1.

For this investor, he’s willing to break even on a monthly basis on the future rental and make a profit in 5 years on what looks like a still growing part of the city. 

Is it a good idea to purchase a commercial strip mall first, and then transition into residential (where we want to invest.)?

We would get $1000 profit each month.

I am willing to pay for my education and my mentors time and I also don't have any issues in sharing my profit but I am really looking for someone who is only focusing on lease options and has a proven system to follow.I will really appreciate if any of you can help me.ThanksAbhijeet Parihar