A low maintenance condo rentable to good tenants sounds like a good starting point to me.I’m 56 and reasonably setup for retirement, so real estate is a stabilizing diversifier for me.

Because personal growth and financial stability sounded like a better combo than Netflix and takeout.

Detroit is still in a late incubation stage however man oh man are we poised for serious growth. 

You’ll want to get really familiar with local zoning laws, short-term rental rules, and landlord-tenant laws as they vary by town if you plan on going the STR route.Focus on Cash Flow Early On: You might be tempted to go for something that appreciates quickly, but in the early stages, it’s important to find properties that bring in cash flow.

It may sound nice to pay a 6% management fee but the extra fees can add up to be more than the other company that charges 10% with no additional fees.

I thought the 'add 1-2%' interest rate sounded low.

You have the means to purchase and intend to offer owner financing (you) to the buyers of your lots.That sounds pretty straight forward as long as you are able to carry the loans and deal with any defaults.I don't have a background in raw land deals, so that's all I got.Thanks for the feedback and I will keep these things in mind as I move forward. 

Sounds like a good situation from the employment perspective. 

The house itself sounds like a winner - you've got 340 in the house, it sounds like (315 you paid plus 25k of your own cash) and you got an appraisal at 515 - that's 175k of forced appreciation.

This sounds like you need an attorney to do this.