Yes I could instead spend my investment money on a half-million dollar home and luxury cars but instead I choose to invest and take chances to set my family and I up in the future.

Spend the extra coin and get higher class neighborhoods, skip the rough areas.

My only concern is that I make very little money since I spend most of my time in university.

If you buy something for $1mm, you must spend at least an additional $1mm fixing it up.  

My recommendation is spend the time you have left in Corpus and study everything on BP so you are better informed on how to make an investment.   

Spend a little money up front to confirm any deed restrictions to the land.

First question does it make sense to spend all that money into a room that is not a bedroom  within the city limits of Birmingham?  

I am going to end up spending 3-4k to get it into good shape for next winter.

Your bank is going to want to make sure that you don't spend your down payment for them before you close.Owner financing means that you and your coworker can negotiate everything, the length of the loan, the rate, how much down, etc. 

With more units, bigger budgets, making it easier for the HOA to absorb (not always tho)2) having someone on the inside is key, they can share with you information as to the true health of the HOA and politics. 3) FINANCIALS - Need to see balance sheet and P&L.