He said there was no equity in the property and yet he walked away with money at closing.So, he buys a property that has no equity, uses an unsophisticated gator lender to overfund the deal, above the value of the property and he gets cash out.For those of you in Rio Linda land, that means there is nothing protecting the gator lender.

Then of course, you are also hoping for appreciation.While it is attractive to not have to worry about cap-ex for a few years, many maintenance issues are usualy tenant-caused, so there may still be ongoing issues & expenses needing attention.Another option may be to buy an existing cheaper property, that's still in overall good shape.

Quote from @Greg Cubitt: Quote from @Jonathan Greene:In regard to Syracuse, you may have a leg up there as well since you live there with the Syracuse Land Bank.

I am not going to do any improvements to the land, just improvements on paper etc.

i re-use appliances that are in good shape.  

In order to facilitate a 1033 you would sImply use those funds to either rebuild on the land, or the replacement can be a new investment propert purchase.

./ current tenant renting for 6mo).LOFTI have plenty of land for detached ADU /their own yard, driveway & entry with the goal of a 1 bedroom/1 full bathroom downstairs & a bedroom/powder room upstairs <so 1 & 1/4 bath>...

But since you are in California, a land trust might be a better route.

I feel fortunate to find that one and the land its on is up zoned it will allow multi story mixed use commercial and resi and STR and is in the biggest city of the wine country in Oregon so upside along with it..

If the rehab budget is 50% or less than the purchase price with a decent ARV, you'll be in good shape.