You will use conventional or FHA, but it's VERY hard to win in Northern NJ with an FHA loan on a multi just because most sellers interpret FHA as not having the money instead of an investment vehicle so that needs to be explained.You aren't going to learn much in an online underwriting course as most of those are for commercial properties and no one online can teach you how to underwrite a small multi in Northern NJ because the vacancy, cap ex, taxes, are all different.

Vacany rate is about 10% for LTR, days on market depends but 15-30, 33609, 33607, 33603, 33604, 33605, 33615, 33616 to name a few. 3/2 even 2/1 can be rented easily, you have an array of options.

It may require more capital and harder work, it all depends on how bad you want it.

Can I use income from wholesaling to pay off my house without paying taxes on it.

yes of course you have to build above flood plains to even build in miami and most of the city lots are non flood plain lots that have been built on previously. even if they were you can build above the flood plain and pull it out of the flood plain once it is constructed depending on the parcel 

It takes time to answer calls, book reservations, coordinate cleaners, pay the taxes, build monthly statements, etc.

I think how much will depend on how cumbersome the entitlement process is for that area.

My gut response is for us to sell at 2 year mark and collect the equity (tax free).

Depending on how much he can prove in court getting 30k now might be better than maybe getting 40k 2 years in the future.

You will want to, at a minimum, conduct pre-move-in, mid-term, and move-out inspections.