It’s making running the numbers a big guessing game and it’s quite frustrating!

While this type of housing is somewhat expensive for most investors game plans, anyone who isn't interested in investing for strong cash flow and immediate ROI can certainly do really well here.

The whole game changes for the better (lender terms, interest rates, possibilities, partnerships, JVs, OPM, etc.) when you shift to commercial (5+ units).I looked at Bryan/College Station a few times and it fell through our buying criteria having less than 250K in population.

Our state puts them online & separates foreclosures (live auctions) from bank owned auctions (usually online).

Before this business he would buy wrecked Yamaha R6 motorcycles and disassemble them in his garage, selling every single piece, part, nut and bolt that wasn't damaged, individually at swap meets and online. 

@Matthew R Crawford So this post grabbed my attention as i'm a beginner in the real estate game myself.

I probably look at 50 - 100 houses a week, it’s a numbers game.

Others want to have a family, which becomes their highest priority ... etc.If I were in your shoes, I would sit down with the wife and write down the goals with actual numbers and dates and run them by your friend or some other folks here...There are tons of strategies in real estate, some more lucrative than others, but require some level of expertise, which you can only build once you get in the game more seriously.Year 0: Skills: Basic RE Education.

Seller owns property free and clear and you guys sign a purchase agreement for 100KYou put down 10% which is 10K to the seller(skin in the game)Your hard money lender put in 90K, which is the rest of the money due to seller, to get to that 100K owed.Then Escrow closes and your seller has the 100K owed to him and then you pay the lender who put in 90K monthly interest only payments till you resell/refinance the property paying off the 90K owed to him.

Depending on the land and your game plan, you may or may not be able to make money at a 'flip'.