But I can't seem to keep them motivated enough to even come in and do their job -- much less go and make a killing on their own.Finding hyper motivated people has become damn near impossible. 

Basically, I'm trying to decide between continuing my search for a house-hack close to home here in Columbus (feels impossible right now) or doing a long(ish) distance investment in another area (still in-state) where there are actually duplexes that would cashflow right away.  

So being a new investor it will be hard to find a private lender that will lend on those terms that is not family or friends. 7% although not impossible to find is unlikely to find at 100% being funded plus no experience.

My project was supposed to be finished by June but it has been falling behind, and with the economy opening up I need to do a 2 month travel that made me impossible to continue to be on site for the project, yet alone dealing with the headaches from the GC.

Getting out was impossible unless you had 4 wheel drive.

One of the major hurdles with most of Northern Colorado (Larimer County) is the tough occupancy limits, which basically make house hacking almost impossible in a single-family.

However, I go into the episodes understanding that each person and situation is extremely specific and its impossible to give sound advice to apply to the many given that REI is so location and personal goal specific. 

From a lender's perspective, SoFla valuations create impossible deal terms unless the investor/borrower brings significant cash to the deal. 

Everyone has different investing parameters that go far beyond the single factor of geographic location, so it is impossible to say if you would be making a mistake based on that one thing. 

Getting such terms without experience/track record will be well nigh impossible.