Maybe look into a local group meetup and find someone who is doing what you think you want to do and "partner" with them.Partnering doesnt have to involve funds, but involving funds can trigger rewards, and allow you to experience the details and strategies while having skin in the game.There's only one way to get in. 

I don't usually see popcorn ceilings but texture is common. 

Doing a roll up loan (land acquisition, soft costs/permit, vertical) over a 3 year cycle is too much risk for any private money lender in this market texture and I'd be confident to say that, even if they are a local HI lender or a lender who is very comfy to lend in HI.

If I paid a seller $500 for the option to buy their property for $20k within the next 6 months or give them a $500 earnest money deposit on a sales contract to close in 6 months, I have skin in the game as an investor.

I washed my hands, dried them, and couldn't unlock my phone because my skin was too dry.Technology is great . . . until it isn't.

My advice is creat a project whether it's real or not and get pricing on that project and use that as a baseline so you can scale up or down as needed. also in order to get accurate estimates from contractors without going through weeks worth of back and forth it is best to know trade slang and the major factors affecting each trade ie drywallers will need square footage and finish texture or the fact that roofers bid things by the square(10x10=100sq ft).

I would keep prop mgmt in place.I've been told that the Section 8 gov't agents visit the props periodically, and the tenant can lose their Section 8 if they don't care of the prop, so in theory at least, the tenants have some skin in the game.On the surface, I've been told by one St.

It's a bad one because there isn't enough skin on the bone to turn a profit after you move.

Almost like a duplex in the skin of a single family home. 

They have more skin in the game then you do.Make sure you get clear title.