Your best bet is to walk the neighborhood - find something comparable to what you are trying to build and develop some relationships with the workers/foremen/gc, etc. and just ask some questions regarding cost. 

Connecting with others who are in that market is your best bet, and you may even form a reliable relationship or two to build on. 

My bet is the amount of cash flow you are getting compared to your equity is very low.

The you have car maintenance.living in mexico might be your best bet but you still need to increase your income by possibly purchasing another home using fha?

All that being said, if you don’t have so many extra things going on, I bet you could do it 10 times faster!!

I don't play in gentrification areas, and I'd bet the investors that do are keeping pretty tight lipped. 

I bet there are a lot of you guys here that were around and investing in 2008 when it happened in the US.Basically my question is this: If I buy my property today and a year from now the market crashes with say 40%.

Not too shabby for taking a bet on a pile of dirt for only $60,000ish down!  

@Shu Matsuo PostSince you're a long distance investor, your best bet is to start building the relationships online and via phone with brokers, property managers, insurance agents, RE attorneys, and basically everyone you will need as a part of your team.

Newark and the surrounding area might be your best bet in that price range.