Within 12 months, I improved my credit score, got approved for a VA loan, and bought my first duplex!

I think I could be of service to you.

You may not get landlording experience but you'll get maintenance, financing, and paperwork experience.I think the discussion points in your head and with them are around what kind of improvements they would need or desire (if you have to make it elderly accessible that could be a selling point for the next tenants, but what if they want something that will cause you more upkeep in the future?)

Flipping houses and owning a painting business can actually complement each other very well, in terms of cross-selling services, developing connections, and new opportunities among other things.I guess my point is, before leaving an existing venture, make sure you have formally done your diligence via a business model, business plan, marketing strategy, etc.  

Not an insurance agent but i believe the difference is, the Vacant policy covers the existing structure plus improvements as they are done. the builders risk insures the material and i believe aspects of the project as it is built, since there is no structure. so if you happen to take a builders risk and you are doing reno, it may not cover you for the existing structure .

The market has improved considerably in Corpus and my house is now worth anywhere around $160,000 and up depending how updated it is.We want to sell the house and take the proceeds to invest in other real estate.  

This is a good place to start as they have the more experienced staff there and you don't have to have such a defined idea of what you want.They will look up these tools amongst other things (these tools are awesome btw):http://zimas.lacity.org/http://navigatela.lacity.org/navigatela/There you'll get a load of information from zoning to issues related to the property to details of the property to services in the area, whether it's a landslide zone, hydrants, sewer, RSO, Ellis Act and much more.

Once you become advanced you can reach out to services like Podio, but this seems to be a good starting area!

Has anyone used a third party billing service to bill tenants in a building that is sub metered?  

I guess the part my buyer has had difficulty with getting financing for the property is that there are no FHA qualified structures on the property, so even with the assessed value being $34k above the asking price, she is having trouble secureing a loan on a "Land" deal, even with improvements.