I’m looking to use hard money lending to get the property and to renovate.

@Jonathan Edmund throw out the 70% rule and do the hard math.

It's a tough market trying to buy for cash I can't imagine how hard it would be waiting on a loan.  

I've got a potential hard money lender whos willing to help me with the rehab cost but before we can make that happen he needs as an assurance from me to provide in writing a bank who's willing to refinance the property after it's been rehabbed.

@John Stoeber, Yes, I've seen operators acquire management companies and I've seen them start their own management companies (as did we).Starting your own management company when you invest locally is hard enough, creating one on a national scale is a whole different animal. 

Still, it's cheaper than hard money.The $100,000/$1,000 is a popular metric to qualify a property.

Same goes for wholesaling here - unless you're in trades, hard to get good numbers on quick turnaround in Boston proper, but with some access to capital, more feasible in Malden, Chelsea, Everett, or in Dorchester, West Roxbury, even Norwood.I know we connected off-forum also - happy to chat more if it helps!

But when you're in the trenches, and reality is clobbering you in the face, you MUST be able to get everything out on the table, discuss what's going on, and make hard decisions.Trust but verify. 

Be patient, work hard, get your degree and start investing now at a small scale and watch your portfolio grow.

It is interesting and also hard to bid on the future.