It all depends. 

Depending on your area, renting short-term and long-term can be very profitable as the TDYers have lodging allowances that are based on the average daily rate for a hotel, usually $2800-$4000 per month.

It really depends on you're comfortable with and your goals.

Depending on BTU of the unit.

I'd say it really depends if you are an established agent or a brand new agent.  

What @Chris Martin said.A real estate/closing attorney, a promissory note and a deed of trust are the primary (sometimes only) ingredients needed or required to close on a property using private or hard money in this state.The going rate around here for a RE attorney to draft or review these docs and close a loan is anywhere from around $400 to upwards of $1,000 depending on who you know, how much business you throw their way, or the direction of the wind that day.The cleanest way to do it, if you're interested in that sort of thing, is for the PML to have their own RE attorney draft the lender docs (Note, DOT, some want a personal guaranty as well) and then use a different RE attorney to close the transaction with.

I use to hire builders and now we do it in house, but depending on where you are wanting to build I may have a few good builder contacts for you if you need them. 

Only need to declare it when you sell it, and since the US doesn't know the original purchase price, they depend on the seller to declare that.  

Depending on where you are buying in NJ and the value of the property, you may be able to get bank based in New York interested in the deal, which will widen your pool of potential lenders. 

Obviously depending on the specifics, which I am still waiting on a call back, is it worth taking a run down, disorganized property that isn't anywhere close to its potential and putting the time and money in to develop it into a nice community?