Personally, I've never paid for cable in my life nor have my parents, so I'm struggling with that *A LOT* but for other stuff, I've been in a hospitality-type industry for a long time, and I know I can knock that one out of the park (I'm actually quite excited about that aspect of it because I love my area and get excited about it, so I'm excited to share that with others and make them feel at home when they are away).

Most folks mindlessly buy into the standard mantra of cash flow is king and appreciation is gambling, and in so doing they ignore some very important aspects and get tunnel vision, which not only causes them to miss some profitable opportunities but also ignore some factors that may hurt them long term.

It can be more if the city requirements are stringent (e.g. low density, concrete road requirements, etc).Hopefully that land is already zoned MHP and then it's a matter of defining setbacks, roadways, utilities, etc with the city.

I'll let others chime in on potential issues of having a boiler system in a rental or flip since I'm not familiar with that aspect, but I will say that if you read up on HVAC forums it seems that radiant heat from boiler systems is preferable from a comfort standpoint.

Depending on your capital situation and your cash flow goals, it will take however long it will take to meet your goals -- you've done the math above, and it's (for the most-part) accurate (it's accurate during the amortization period of the loan).Now, if you want to control the TIME aspect, you need to play with the RETURNS lever. 

How important is it to define this before diving in?

Current strategy is to form an LLC, hopefully pay all cash for a duplex that needs some work but not a ton (loosely defined I know), refinance when things get settled, buy a 2nd duplex the following year when we have the funds again for an all cash purchase and repeat the process.

HI Bradford,Most lenders can do the 203k FHA streamline or full K / standard program or the home style conventional loan program.The problem is most have not done a rehab loan program or have construction experience  or the process on the lending paperwork side.There is quite a bit of paper work such as:- scope of work + revised scope of work or adjustments- consultant review depending on the depth of your construction project and work being done- resume for contractor- certain lenders have requirements for contractor experience such as you cant GC (general contractor) your own project and such- reserves or margin of error in the project such as the 35k streamline 203k loan which only leaves about 28-30k of actual construction cost with the remaining 5-7k for reserves and contingency- only 203k standard FHA can finance your carrying costs (so you dont have to make a mortgage payment during your 6 months of construction)- Home style conventional rehab loan cannot have a project that is more than 50% of the after improved value (meaning your rehab cannot be 250k on a 450k valued project after you finish) youd have to lower your rehab to 225k or less in this example) This is not limited on 203k products- much moreAfter the construction details and process theres the typical financing aspects which include regular FHA or conventional qualification guidelines.The rule of thumb though is to qualify for way more than you need or to do a max purchasing power assessment to see how much borrowing power we have to ensure we have enough room to budget for the 1) purchase, 2) rehab / construction budget, 3) reserves and contingency budget to fit in loan approval criteria.Let me know if you have any questions on what to look out for.

The referenced areas in your post are popular, I know some of the referenced areas now have expanded or are expanding the zone of the defined neighborhood, I think you will see a few opportunities begin to spring up and again much change is coming for the better.

In addition, writing only after the fact to me is missing the dynamic aspect of it all.