Vacancy period between tenants is 1-2 weeks and they typically stay 2-3 months.

To anyone unfamiliar they are offering a forgivable loan of 50% up to 40k for owner occupants for single family and duplex style houses contingent on staying in the home for 5 years.

Buy a house around 100k, rent it out and either stay at home with my parents or get an apt in a nicer area? 

I stay focused on the Carolinas.

So... my next question, now that I'm with this agency, what is the protocol for length of time I stay with them?

I have money saved up, 15k, that I am looking to use to purchase my first property and my credit score is ok at 670. one of my issues is my credit utilization due to credit cards I took out for my business that I maxed out and I also have student loans.now fast forward, I want to get into house flipping and later on buying and holding, probably 5-10 years from now. i have done a lot of research on loans I could utilize including the fha loan which seems to be the most attractive to me however I am aware that I would have to stay in the property for a year before I can do anything.

No one has a crystal ball in regards to predicting the value of home prices in the future.Your next property can go up 20%, stay flat or even decrease in value.A lot of BP'ers are speculating we are at or near the top of the real estate market.

Hey guys I have been reading through posts on here about skip tracing and I have yet to see someone definitively recommend a skip tracing service, or say who to stay away from.

Some inexperienced property owners think that they won't lose tenants by raising rents if the current rate is below market because the tenants will discover that fact and decide to stay put. 

You also have several big funds Interesting article on  the Florida tax lien certificate market:http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2013-05-03/news/f...My advice is to stay in your local market to get started.Happy Hunting!