Thanks to all who've responded - these are all good thoughts and great advice.The only timeline for completion is that the house is just sitting there and I'm paying taxes on it and will be paying to keep it heated this winter. 

Taxes 3800 a year.

This can be something fairly minimal, so long is it produces legitimate income that you report on your taxes, such as with a schedule C.  

Does anyone know or know where to look for what we should be collecting for sales taxes

Suppose one purchased a 4 plex for $400k and took the standard depreciation for 27.5 years deducting $300k for tax purposes.

I rent it for $1750 and mortgage/insurance/taxes/association are $1100.

A 2 BR or 3 BR townhouse condo in the same complex easily costs 3x - 5x as much to rehab if it has been neglected since the 1960s, while only drawing 1.5 - 1.8 the rent.The purchase price for the latest unit is $18,000, and closing costs including reimbursement of pre-paid property taxes will bring the total to $18,700.  

Add in inflation, tax benefits to include depreciation, the slow increasing of rents over time, and the ability to use leverage at purchase--well, there are a variety of benefits to investing in property.

So wouldn't that make your cash flow for the first 2 properties the sum of the rent minus HOA, taxes, and %for cap expenses and vacancies?

I chose orange county because I am somewhat familiar with the area as I travel there quite often, the taxes are lower than nearby Rockland and Westchester counties, and the percentage of home sales have risen more than the respective counties over the past year.