A ton of landscaping (removal of overgrowth mostly), a new roof, new water heater, new paint, new counters, and a few other small fixes and she was ready to go.

On the one hand, you shouldn't boot your family out of your current house if it's a good fit, but on the other, $418k may be a lot of debt to carry as an investor, since your DTI ratio is going to be a critical factor in how much you can borrow as you start out as an investor.

This primarily involved roof jobs on our flat roofs. 

Great tip.By the way, what kind of work boots do you wear these days?

Floors, kitchen remodel, paint, roof, double pane windows, minor landscaping.

I already have three people that agreed to live with me for $450 a month and I would have one more bedroom to boot.

I know that I am looking at needing some pretty major repairs (new roof & windows) in the near future that are going to be large out of pocket expenses that won't actually increase the properties value at all.

Making sure you have solid boots on the ground can make your out of state REI experience much less of a headache.

You also have to look at things like CAPEX (does it need a $50k roof, or $80k worth of new HVAC equipment?)

In addition to wholesaling, you also have the option of teaming up with someone out of state and being the local "boots on the ground."