I've done the majority of my research on Kansas City and I'm also looking into Indianapolis.

After you have checked off the most important criteria which most of the major providers have in common, however, price is a significant factor.

Know your market and target re-list (sales) price and ensure you don't go overbudget so that you have some profit in the end!

I was told by the realtor that this home is in need of updating but nothing major in the sellers disclosure.  

Because Saturday and Sunday only amounted to two days, and you would have no business-related activities on these days, the fact that you had to stay until/through Monday to finish the seminar, still means that majority of the time there was spent on deductible activities - thus whole trip, including air and hotel is deductible.

General rule (for more reasons than one):Buy and hold rentals=LLC or hold in your personal nameFlipping=S-Corp (although this depends on some other factors as well such as your total profit and W-2 income) It may not be worth it depending on your situation.

Lenders are audited on a regular basis, and it's millions of dollars in fines if a lender turns appraisal fees into a profit center. 

It also states cash only and major renovations needed, so would be a good candidate for  you in this area, hard to find.  

I'm interested in taking a look at a couple properties that would require major rehab and would like to have a contractor for estimates.

Billings is ripe for making some profit in flipping right now!