Keep it short and professional.

A professional contractor isnt cheap , but will pay off in the long run . 

Readers are directed to seek professional advice.

The only problem is I don't have that much to get started with right now and I live in NJ...On top of that, I'm also saving for a new car within the next 2 years (will just buy something reliable and used to save as much $$$ as possible...mine has 187K miles on it right now), a wedding within the next 5, and I have my monthly student loan payment...so how am I supposed to save enough to still have enough for at least a 20-25% minimum down payment plus reserves for rehab.

You must keep the ownership percentage the same at all times and all income/expenses must be split according to your ownership percentage.Be sure to seek help of a professional who can guide you and structure this correctly so you can avoid violating prohibited transactions rules:https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-particip...

Depending on your goals (investing and professional) you may not need a RE license.

I also visited an old friend whose wedding I'm going to in June, and it just so happened that she was 5 days away from listing her house that she had bought two years ago (once married, she's moving to Indy where her fiancee lives). 

I am an investor, self managing landlord, and GC, I specifically don't Want to get a realtor license so I’m not considered a real estate professional for tax designations so when I periodically sell something, I still qualify for long term capital gains.  

These are professionals with additional training and a stricter code of ethics.

Listing the home for sale will be $169K  Then I threw it on a website for rental at $2200 and there was alot of interest in renting it (and from what I could tell they were professional/career people which is typical in the area).