I find myself ever more motivated to take on the projects that I do and to build trustworthy relationships with the clients that I do work for, which is something I never put much effort into prior.

The second recommendation would be to do a house flip with a special and your able to move there and be a "house hacker" and take advantage of the lower down payment.The only other way away from home is to buy an apartment complex that had a minimum of 30 units so that project could afford property management company from that local area, they need to be experienced and understand what you expect in reporting and current operation with phone talking. 

My projection for property appreciation is for it to cool off significantly for the next few years, but I could be wrong.So I look for either below retail purchases or retail purchases that have a value add.  

I am looking forward to finding a mentor that can show me the ropes and hopefully I can give back through managing some projects.

How far is too far from your town is too far to buy your first project?

i think if you look at around 750 or less for rents you will be more accurate in your projections.  

We are looking for a loan or investor but not a partner, the idea of doing some kind of crowd funding project might also be an interesting approach but was looking for some examples of that.Thanks, Fritz

From past experiences doing projects in the City, this may be a very difficult task to get approved.

I am a project manager for a large concrete contractor.

Will be moving soon to a (annoyingly) HOCL area for career and to be closer to family.Based on career/projected income, was offered a 0% down, no PMI, owner-occupied option (Rate is ~4.8%) from a bank we have a relationship with.