Rents can achieve the minimum 1% rule but only outside of major centers.I would be looking to invest out west or down east.

Some people disregard these rules, but that id tax fraud if you are audited.

The old rule of thumb is that you want at least 30% equity to give you room for repairs, holding costs, sales costs while still earning a profit.

You should also account for vacancy, a good rule of thumb is to use a conservative number of 8% (30 days out of 365)3. 

I can tell from the forum rules that I'm safe asking newbie questions here, which I very much appreciate.

So what really happened was that your parents did a 1031 exchange for 50% of that condo (They had to take actual deed to their replacement real estate so the portion purchased by you could not have come from 1031 funds).At the same time you bough a primary residence that just happened to be 50%of a condo.So your parents own an investment property that happens to be 50% of a condo. 

For my situation, in my market, my business partner and I do about 5-7 flips per year and target 20-25% profit margin, which we then split 50/50 between ourselves. 

In Texas, it's about $20 to $50 in filing fees to change ownership, whether that was a $20,000 unimproved lot or a $10,000,000 mansion. 

My father has been my 50/50 partner since day one.

@James FainSee the following for the 401k loan rules. https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/retirement-pl...See the following regarding the 401k distribution rules.https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-particip...