Love to see what others have done, and if there are certain high value services that can help with this in a budget friendly way. 

High to mid 6s depending how much down. 

If they break them it is less expensive to replace a rod then a door   For showers use a door but a high quality frameless shower door.   

You don't HAVE to buy points, but if you have a high DTI, the lender might not be able to do the deal unless you do, we can't tell from the information that you've provided here. 

RentingFamilyMember is not interetsed in making money, just not paying the food, utilities, etc. of the SiblingRenter.(2) RentingFamilyMember's AGI is too high and Schedule E passive losses are limited.

Census.gov will give you (for any city/state) the population, median home value, median household income, median age, racial distribution and more.

- You missed utilities in your holding costs- For your first rehab you should plan on a little more than 6 months, just in case- You might want to double check your tax number as taxes in NY can be pretty high- The biggest area where mistakes are made for new investors when it comes to flips and BRRRRs are in the ARV and the rehab cost.

Listen, there's nothing more powerful for you and your family than investing in real estate.

As for doing work yourself, you are a high paid SW engineer.  

You just have to ensure that the mortgage balance is not higher than your offer; otherwise, the seller would have to come up with money to close, which is highly unlikely.