A reserve is unnecessary, but I still keep around $15,000 - $20,000 in my account.The point is, that you should sit down and assess your finances to determine what the worst-case scenario may look like, how much you would need to cover it without impacting your life, and whether you will need to build a reserve.

But with only a dozen properties in only 2 states I’ve definitely not found a use for one yet.

we are still assessing the rentals we manage but overall are just finding a few minor issues so far. 

Louis or West Memphis or Jackson Mississippi or dozens of other places.

It forced me to reach out to developers, to engineers dozens of local builders and most important like minded individuals.

But how can investors assess the market and navigate regulatory processes to take advantage of this opportunity, particularly in states like Georgia that offer streamlined application processes?

They can't assess all the subjective data like overall layout, view from the living room window, the dogs next door that bark all day, the width of doorways, size of individual rooms, quality of kitchen cabinets and appliances, etc.The best thing to do is study your market regularly.

And, FMV on 1/6/25 is not FMV today because now you don't have a lot in an established neighborhood, you have a lot in a disaster area which comes with the challenges I listed above.We built about three dozen "fire lot" homes after our fire--all lots acquired off MLS or from owners that came to us (we didn't market for lots), and not at a price that anyone would call a "discount". 

It's interesting, but every state has dozens (if not 100s) of "submarkets" that can tell a different micro story.

We've done about a dozen flips.