if it's a low rent area then clean it up and don't spend the extra money.

First off $20K should be enough money if your trying to get a construction loan done.

In both cases I spend a lot of money rehabbing a house and then pay myself back either through a sale or refinance of the property.Up to this point, I have primarily just paid for everything through my business checking account.

That being said being so quick to grab na property at my young age it may not have been the best deal; but I put 0 money down and actually got paid to purchase this property so I guess I didn't do too bad.

Maybe use that money to invest in a couple rental homes first.

My goals with the money will be to retire early, travel (I am a Flight Attendant), pay off my parents mortgage, give back to those in need, save money, and be able to do the things I want to do without the burden of constantly worrying about money. 

Does anyone know of any Multifamily Seminars or conferences scheduled in the near future for the Wash,DC or Richmond areas?

Don't forget, if you have owned a commercial property for a long time and have put a lot of money into it over the years, you may be able to expense many of those "improvements" with the Tangible Property Regulations (TPRs) of 2014.

We renovated property doing all the work ourselves so I'm not sure if we can factor in our labor into the money we put into the property, not just materials?

The money making part though is the previous owners had built a detached studio that was mostly finished.