Due to physics, there is no way to overcome this barrier.

With the long term rentals, all rent payments are done online and the only time where we need to be physically present at the property is during times of turnover or major repairs. 

Not every home is a candidate to be flipped and there could very well be a fair amount of competition in your area where more lucrative deals are getting scooped up quickly and others are cultivated from off-market properties.As for fair ROI, you'll likely hear some typical CoC figures but that's something that could be different for every investor. 

You need to check title as those liens may still very well be on the property.

Key is getting the property to appraise high enough that you have 20% equity after the increase in property value.5) Once refinanced into a conventional loan, you are eligible for another FHA loan and can repeat process (Including physically moving into the next property).

Here's how I do my due diligence:1) Portfolio matching: (takes 30 seconds per deal)a) Have an educated opinion on where you think we are in the real estate cycles (financial and physical market cycles)b) Then only then pick the strategies, capital stack, and specialized asset subclasses that make sense for that opinion.

You have legal if not physical possession.

We don't have a physical office, and I'm not really interested in managing agents, so I don't recruit.

Then there is the influence of profitability that comes from they way an owner occupant will incur expenses from living in a property verses the way a renter will incur expenses living in a property (physical depreciation).Finally there is the expense of management.

I have a coworker who bought a house just north of Oakland, and they had to have the property physically raised onto stilts so that a foundation expert could replace the old brick foundation with one that is more seismically sound.