All properties have already been renovated and rent/lease contracts are current and expire in the summer of 2016.  

My rentals would pay my expenses and I can cash out of the house I have in an HOA now, and put that in index funds as another stream of income that I could tap but will just let grow unless I need it during vacancies, major renovations, etc.

Finding and assisting in buying an SFH to be renovated as rental property: ___% of purchase price?

The reason behind this is because the house needs fixed up---new carpet, water heater,all new flooring throughout and the bathroom needs renovation as well. the gutters are falling off and the fascia boards are rotting...with that said I can buy it for what he owes the bank with 2k additional for him to walk away happy.

I has been pre-approved for a reno loan through Fannie Mae's HomeStyle Renovation loan program as an investor.

If you went in right now and started making renovations to common areas AND started increasing the legal rent annually at the limit, it would be 20+ years to get those free market.There are other ways, but not recommended for first timers nor faint of heart.

Thank you all for the recommendations. if anybody else has any I'd love to hear it, going to be a couple of weeks until I can get the plumber in (property is being renovated).

yeah, that's the problem with the rentals... they suck a lot of initial capital and takes awhile to recoup what you put in. in addition, takes a lot of personal sacrifice to save up the capital for the second and third one. that's why the first year we bought 2. both took 4 months to complete each. this year i purchased 8 and renovated 6 so far (some turnovers too). best i can tell you is find cheap deals. every dollar you save in the beginning is a dollar you can put in the business. set a goal and dont get discouraged. even if you end up with just one, it's one more than 96% of the population (guessing)

I plan on doing the renovations and trying to market it as an investment property to other investors in my area.

They get the same rent as the two duplexes with our high maintance lady but they are older and need a lot of renovation, they did cost less but by the time we finish the renovation they will cost only $30,000 less  Then again they were our first buy and they have been good to us.