I think you are in the right mind set however with the out of state investing - its much easier in this day and age and NY is not a great place to get started in this type of investing

I’ve flipped in the dc area for years, right now there is just money & in the vast majority of cases there is high likelihood of losing money, right now the best investments in the area imo are buy & hold, I’ve even gone full circle and while I really liked value add for most of the last decade I think in a lot of ways new construction especially in more affordable markets (I’m personally a big fan of the eastern shore market) is a much better way to make money long term than flipping and brrring while I know they are sexy & certainly you getting a huge paycheck is great, there just isn’t any money in it right now, especially in nova. 

I was thinking to try to pick my market and then find good connections, but it does make much more sense to build that up first and have people there to give me additional info. 

I am thinking of just getting a first-time home buys loan at the low 3.5% to 5% down and just living in it for 12 months then renting it out.

How should I think about the resale value gained from the square footage being finished?

She and my step father bought an undeveloped land (Roosevelt California) - residential zone back in 1995-1996 I think from a realty broker that time.

I think we've made more money realigning homes in ways that make sense than by just putting new kitchens and bathrooms.

I've been researching and learning everything I can for the last few months now but I think I need to just jump in and get some experience.

I think that while what you want to spend all-in on this project is somewhat possible, you will end up with a very management heavy property at the end and shouldn’t expect the best tenant pool.

If you asking whether or not a property has a mortgage, the chances are you should think beyond just a mortgage…