You got it at the right time, did some improvements and now have a significant gain.

Where is a good place to start gaining knowledge to make the transition?

My intentions and ambitions are to invest in flipping and hold-on-to residential properties (1-4 units) and eventually get more involved in commercial investments once I gain more experience.

I would ensure you get a formal partner agreement that spells out roles/responsibilities, timing, taxes (capital gains), cash flow, etc.

I think it provides a balances approach, and allows you to gain from the benefits of the two different strategies (they work together rather well).

For example, if the remaining mortgage is $600,000 and the Short Sale is $300,000, the home owner will need to pay taxes on the $300,000 as a gain.

If you can answer this question for me we can further this conversation if my gains don't take a huge tax hit."

You may get more valuable information from this post if you share why you are setting up the LLC.

We just didn't have the knowledge to be confident in doing so.I have to say that BP is a great source of info and although some things are different here in Canada compared to the US market, I have already gained a lot of knowledge.

I have $20,000 to work with, and with 20% down that would be very tight/ not possible but I was planning on getting my parents to be equity partners with me for the deal so that I could afford it and still realize the CoC returns that the property could gain.