Daughter #1 bought short sale assessed at 178K for 120K and got a 20K fix up loan with $0 down as it was a In House ARM from a local bank that will get refinanced when the work is done in the spring.

Depending on the outcome of the credit check you most likely wouldn't be going through all this turmoil and mental anguish

I have a 1 year old daughter whom I absolutely adore and want to be able to give her not only all of my love but also my time.

You absolutely never want to follow the "if you build it they will come," mentality but sometimes you have to roll the dice a little bit when you have some solid commitments behind you.        

I REALLY need this to work, I have so much $ into this, October my 9 year old daughter was diagnosed with Kyphoscoliosis and the bills are overwhelming and my husband got laid off New Years Eve!!

I have a 17 year old son and and 5 year old daughter.  

Let me know if that is a horrible mentality or if I'm mistaken.I have to honestly say you completely lost me in your last paragraph though:"@Geoffrey Tan, a good thing to do is to have a long term plan as far as CA property because of the costs to sell but also because of the Prop 13 tax base.

I am now looking for duplexes in the Hampton Roads area that are in a decent area (because I have a daughter) but are also with in my price range..  

I tend to violently recoil from anything with even a whiff of "get rich quick" because I disagree with that mentality entirely. 

What end-game mentality are we looking for/need to set up a profitable deal?