But He took a while to make his mind as as a 1st time home buyer I lowered rent to $1495 in panick it wouldnt rent at all by the time he came back.

Be mindful that in order to leverage the land as collateral for the construction loan it will need to be owned out right.

Would like to have a goal in mind of what is the maximum I would be willing to pay for these properties to even consider buying to make this a “good” deal by the numbers.

Always keep in mind you are operating a rental business, your personal needs and taste are irrelevant.

Find motivated sellers to get properties at below market values so everything cash flows.

In short I want to connect and start a professional relationship with some like minded people and not just the first person I come into contact with through any of agency ;)I am currently living in AZ but plan to move to OK shortly for professional and personal reasons.

Keep in mind this is very normal.. at least half of real estate sold is paying off a mortgage of some sort..

I would very much like to place an ad on Craigslist for motivated sellers.

Just a suggestion, I hope you do not mind. 

This is a first for me and so I'm looking for any edge from the hive mind.