And the newest ones have no pictures included, just a description.I hate to say it but I can't monitor craiglist/zillow/hotpads each and every day (and one of the ads that still shows up involves a house I've had rented since September of 2013).

I've recently seen people giving advise to take out a HELOC as a means to pay your normal everyday expenditures including bills, and at the same time, taking your paycheck from job and applying it every month towards your mortgage payment.

There are many factors that will tell you if you can or cannot do this. 

Latest estimate I saw was $150/sqft to build not including the land.

We are brand new to this; however, my husband has been in residential construction his whole life, including many years in project management of residential home developments.

Is it best to pick the location based on ROI, or is there other important factors that a newbie may overlook?

As a former New Yorker who was a realtor in both NY and PA (Orange Co, NY and NEPA) I learned a lot about North Eastern PA which includes the Pocono Mtns and Scranton-Wilkes Barre area.

Thanks for your response, Yes I have been looking into areas and researching many different factors.

I live in Ca, this property includes a liquor license.  

The rent needs to be 1800-2000 to break it even ( including maintenance and PM).