Contrary to most of the BP community, stocks are great IF you don’t want leverage and you actually know what you’re doing.Since you majored in engineering physics, I’d highly recommend seeing if your employer would pay for a part-time online masters degree in your choice of mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, or computer science.

Roof, Mechanicals, and Flooring (60% of my full renovation budget)That way you can mortgage these items rather than pay cash in the near future.  

Most portfolio loans will contain a partial release mechanism  so you can sell one at a time and keep most of the loan in place.From a 1031 perspective.

I am currently a senior Mechanical Engineering student at SJSU.

So I am buying a townhouse in Baltimore city today that has a code violation notice and order regarding one room in particular (replace window sash, replace carpet and install missing switch plate) and repair/replace the mechanical system.

Mortgage liens in front of the foreclosing entity (if any) survive and mortgage liens behind the foreclosing entity are wiped out as are mechanic's and judgment liens.

They will be able to get you knowledge on how to list, buy, close, basically the mechanics of the deal. 

The house was in great condition on the exterior, great mechanicals, and recently finished basement I could live in while I did the rest of the renovating.

@Khelifa Ahmed, some of the prices make sense, some don't, my gcs are not the cheapest, not the most expensive, but the work gets done right. a typical TH with new mechanicals for a rental will run 40-50K, for a flip about 20% more.

Sorry, don't know the mechanics, and haven't done one of these transactions, so I'm not sure how to coordinate it.