You'll need to be 100% transparent with the owner and probably either pay him higher rent or cut him in on the profits.

When you consider that the HOA fee is almost equal to the property tax and the rents are not very high, then the HOA fee cuts deep into your profit.

That would make the most sense as not to take away from cash flow and to cut expenses ASAP.

First, if you have a passion for investing in real estate but don't really want to make it your full-time job, then you should either go to university and get a degree in a field that interests you (having a job makes it much easier to access loans to finance deals) or start working straight away and join university in 3 or so years (many universities have a lot of 'older' student supports and discounts and this way you enter uni with an income). 

@Jonathan Klemm We had rosario terracciano on the Straight Up Chicago Investor podcast and he's the CEO of ClickInvest.

He's on the market at $750,000, so there's a very realistic break-even scenario.As a wholesaler, you would have to convince a buyer that you have something worth selling - and a "buyer's list" doesn't cut it. 

A good handyman can fix 65%+ of issues and then should know which licensed contract you need for what they cannot do.An Inspector is good to have because you shouldn't trust contractors and should occassionally spot check your handyman's work to make sure it's done right.You'll also need a lawn company to cut lawns for vacant properties. 

We are looking to find a house hack to cut down on costs for two reasons:1.

I do have to recommission the septic system for about $1K and will cut that some by redoing the spray lines myself.

They hired our lawn care company to cut the lawn/shrubs.