The fear of renting while out of town is common, but it's easy to overcome, especially when you have friends and a handyman.

Id keep looking if it was not an approved short sale ( even an approved short sale takes a very very long time and theres no guarantee that you will even close on the house after months of waiting). q1)There are plenty of non traditional lenders that could offer you construction financing if the numbers make sense but it will cost you with points and a higher rate.

My 2 cents: You're young, you could get a real estate or real estate adjacent 9-5 so you can get paid to to learn more about real estate while learning and building the side hustle outside of business hours.Seems like you live in a major US market so that's a plus, you could get a tenant services coordinator job in commercial real estate making $40-60k (not sure if that's more or less than what you are making now) It's an Entry level role, anyone with a degree and a polished resume and a passion for real estate should have a decent shot at landing a job like this.

But it would be nice to have access to the software and a place to basically wholesale the ones you don't want for yourself.

But just hating on wholesaling in a wholesaling forum is so unbelievably pointless. its not dead per se  but it is starting to be regulated as it should.. oregon just passed their version. where to wholesale you now need a license and over site by the RE commission.. along with criminal back ground and a BOND.. and as we know not everyone can pass either of those with the bond being the tough one if you have bad credit your not getting a bond.

You can choose to report your income and expenses on Schedule C by electing to file as a Qualified Joint Venture instead of filing a partnership return.If you have created an LLC that is not in a community property state, and as husband-wife you are the only members, then you are a partnership and must file a partnership tax return unless you have elected to treat your LLC as a corporation for tax purposes.If you have created an LLC in a community property state, and husband-wife are the only members, then you are a partnership and must file a partnership tax return unless you have elected to treat your LLC as a disregarded entity or corporation for tax purposes.

For a cash out refi, you are generally limited to 75% LTV and rates right now are in the mid 7s for good credit and a DSCR over 1.0. 

But the "art" really only comes with time in market and a deep understanding of both the market and the operations of assets.

The site hasn't changed, literally not at all.The people, my friends here, people I know, help change the perspective by doing what they have done for years, just posting and responding with words of wisdom and a 20,000 foot view.

Everyone thinks they can paint but there's a big difference between a professional paint job and a non-professional one (the latter usually actually damages the property instead of improving it).