The homes we are looking at are between 75-120k and I would really like to stay in the lower range of that so we can generate a better monthly cashflow, however I am learning that most lenders will only go as low as 75k (which would actually be a 100k deal with 20% down).

All normal expenses deducted management maintenance landscaping and so on.Does that sound about right?

1) If I rent out 1 or 2 properties, both as long-term rentals, and I do over 750 hours in various jobs related to the rental (property management, maintenance, renovation, marketing, etc), and this is my only job, does this qualify me as a "Real Estate Professional?"  

Stable rent with annual increases, low turnover and long term. 

For example, sure there is sa record AMOUNT in mortgages, but probably because of the low rates, the actual cost/payments for this borrowed amount is really low.The only issue being shown here is the credit card debt...

Properties sold to Fundamental Partners for about 12% below foreclosure value.I wonder if 12% will be enough to weather the storm.I believe these are Fed Low Income Rent controlled, I wonder how much longer that will last (with no ability to raise the rents).There looks to be quite a bit of Physical Damage to some of the brick walls, and the Trash from the pics looks to be piling up to the clouds (Citation Level).I wonder what the occupancy level is, as there seems to be lot of mailbox doors swinging in the wind.Were these guys hand picked by the forecloser to take this over, or did it go to open bid with another lender underwriting a new loan?

For example, when I took over running the franchise PM biz, previous leadership was so deep in the weed's with over 100 open maintenance ticket's and just a mess of things.

Development and managing a site is much different than building. if you aren't experienced I'd find an experienced zoning attorney or land planner or civil engineering firm. 16 units for 3 acres is pretty low density, extremely low density. have you looked at future overlays for the project to see how many units you could get?

For that reason, we use Innago and it works great for collecting rent, fees and maintenance request.

If not you may be able to get a low percentage down loan on your first investment.