I should add that there was nothing grand about our 1904 house and I was a free lunch program at school and latch key kid, so when I made those remarks about my friends house in the "rich" part of town, I was genuinely puzzled why such a fancy new house would feel so insubstantial.

People are weird ya never know.Tell him your kid or grand-kid needs a community merit badge and needs to complete a neighborly project ... 

I’m an out of state investor looking for boots on the ground in the Grand Rapids area. 

Going pro is worth every penny.It's incredibly cheap in the grand scheme of things. 

If you can buy a deal with zero of your own money, and have 0% interest financing, you've hit a grand slam.

Turn over was 8 grand.

I am living in Grand Rapids, Michigan and am interested in investing locally.

With that budget, your primary options are Colorado Springs, Grand Junction and Pueblo(crap-hole).  

@Jacob Wohlgemuth well 4.5 acres could be a couple million in the right location or it could be a couple grand.

It is all about knowing what is selling and who is buying.If nice houses are selling for a couple grand and there are for sale signs on every couple of houses as you go down every street you will probably not be able to get anything cheap enough to get a spread.If there isn't great inventory and the ones that sold that cheap are fully gut rehabs (While yours is at least livable) and there are solid rents you might be able to do great.