One major draw bck to look out for is the HOA associated with it, as well as special assessments that you have no control over that can kill your cash flow. 

Akshay,I recommend finding an accountant who specializes in real estate taxation over one that is local.

@Matt Romano, yes, I agree with you on that and other special scenario(s) , my reply is more for generic situation for investor.But it's very tough to find a good deal in today's scenario, until you are very lucky.

I would like to specialize as a Listing agent, would that help because I am not representing a Buyer who might be looking for a Mortgage Loan to close on a house?

There are a few agents who kind of do this, as licensed agents it's a bit different but end of day comes out very similar.At this point I am probably the closest thing to a "wholesaler" in the St Cloud market as I am market specialized, over a decade professionally, and I develop off market deals for my clients.

Our plan is to hold long-term (10+ years), with a primary focus on positive monthly cash flow and equity capture through strategic renovations (targeting a 10% to 15% increase in equity above the cost basis), with a secondary focus on properties that are likely to appreciate in value over the investment hold period and tax benefits derived from investment real estate.Right now, we are trying to identify real estate brokers/agents in the DFW area that specialize in 2-4 unit buildings with a real estate investor mindset.

@Bryan NothI had no idea that agents specialize in investment properties until I heard a BP podcast.

I am a real estate professional and I specialize in this property type in the Los Angeles and Orange County market.

@Jack McWatters If you would qualify for a loan to build a 350k house you should easily qualify to buy the land.A credit union or bank or google land loan,some companies specialize in that type of loan.If the land is paid for it’s not too tough to get a construction loan to build the home.With carrying costs excetra It may not be that great of a deal.Since you asked about Private Lenders the best thing to do is to talk about what you do to everyone you know.Dentist Doctor friends relatives and tell them to pass it on.I have owned an LLC for two years and still have relatives say ( I didn’t know you bought houses)smhBest of Luck!

I started this project hoping i could efficiently review the most amount of properties in order to maximize the potential investment options to bid at auction....this is what I have so far.First thing i did was to create the listings, I matched the properties been auctioned with their corresponding pics and the property specs (rooms, size, floors etc.).Second, for each property I automated the data collection process from public records and created a report with: Foreclosure info, owner info, taxes data, liens including mortgages , satisfaction of mortgages,  assigments, violations and permits and court dockets.This data is updated daily to capture new filings (specially the dockets to capture bk and motions to cancel sales)Now that i have the data i can apply my personal "preferences" to go through the report and in a few minutes discard  properties that have certain attributes I "dislike".