I have one rental close by, rent amounts are crazy. 

The biggest draws for investors are not needing to provide income docs (no W2, tax return, paystubs etc needed), DTI doesn’t matter, you can close in an LLC, and not all lenders report the debt to your personal credit (so it doesn’t affect your credit score or DTI for future conventional financing).

The profit would only be calculated after all cost to include closing cost (realtor commissions included) were deducted.

I wanted to self manage, and hence was thinking of focusing on the areas close to where we live.

You want an aggressively negotiated purchase price, low closing costs, lower property taxes, affordable insurance, minimal HOA fees, and competitive property management fees.

If so, you could plan to market about 60 days before lease end or even sooner if their house is ready earlier, so you can close as soon as they are out.

My guys walked it and its not anywhere close to being completed.

My goal is to have my first property closed by end of 2024.

Obviously validate that claim prior to closing, but let's not put the cart before the horse. 

A lot of the new construction you are seeing is from the buyer spree in 2021 & 2022 where people were having to pay 160-170k+ for standard row homes in Point Breeze and Grays offered a much cheaper alternative close by.