Is there a simple way to explain exactly how this is and how to calculate it for a specific market?

I know Jersey has one of the highest in the country but is there a simple equation to figure this?

With the right HML obviously I could look for slightly more expensive fixers and have a larger rehab budget but I still want my first project to be super simple, not a gut job or anything that needs more than 21 days to complete.Is there anyone here who started out this way and "against the odds" successfully completed a project through to selling and making a profit?

If you do the work, you capture that 15-18+% and keep the profit in-house.Personally, I think the best option is to buy as much cheap money as possible (finance the most you can), and buy a fixer-upper where you can be more competitive. 

We sold it in July 2021 to capture the equity and move it into other projects.

We're just going to use nice round simple numbers.

I'm seeing here that this is more of a site for investors, which were not necessarily interested in buying or building for an airbnb, we are very interested, however, in building a home that we will live in & then rent out or make our existing home in Kenosha Wisconsin which is on Lake Michigan an airbnb.We know NOTHING about buying a lot & then building.That said,  We have been trying to figure out how we get the most Bang for our buck buying existing property or building our own home.We have been seeing some amazing properties around 50K in Yucca Valley and/or 29 palms that list having water and electric available nearby.We want simple clean lines,  I suppose what would be considered modern contemporary but I hate putting that title on it because for some reason it seems like there's an upcharge just by using that description, lol...

I know of several areas in my markets where something as simple as crossing a street or train track can change values by hundreds of dollars.

The notice to check if they want to renew was a simple "text" 38 Days before the end of lease. 

Cash buyer (Landlord) captured the contract for 32,500.