Buy as cheap as you can.

Do any investors or flippers know of any good countertop companies in the Chicago area that sell in bulk for cheap?

If you can get them cheap enough (again you are bidding against season flippers) you might come close to $40K in profit.

The brother heard it's cheap, so he wants in on the deal.2.

$260 is cheap

C class renovations are of less quality than a B  ( The  cheap Lowes Commodes vs a decent American Standard for example) and in many Indy areas the C class homes we always a C class area and the original home was built cheaply.

For something that cheap I'd replace it and forget it.

Good tenants will leave when you ask them to pay for an appliance because you're too cheap to replace your own property.

I think my best option is to relocate to a cheap market, buy land, build a cheap house, and sell and once I gain more experience I can come back to Austin.

 - you can furnish fairly cheap (offer up, CL, buy nothing …, thrift or consignment stores, etc) but it take more effort and more calendar time.