In that case, coming in and turning around the property is not as hard of a play. 

I'll try playing around to see how things look.

we do a lot of infill building.. this only works in HIGHLY desirable areas @Wayne Brooks  as Wayne states not sure were your thinking the value play is here.now there are plenty of folks that buy cheapo lots in FLA like Lehigh acres then sell for a few grand more on contracts those are the land flipping guru's you see that's what they teach.. and there are millions upon millions of lots available for this type of activity generally in FLA  and West Texas  AZ CA and other areas that had massive land speculation booms in the turn of the century.. think Lancaster Palmdale in CA there are million plus platted lots there that get traded around at tax sales every year.to find land with value to builders you need infill in established areas.. close to down towns.. in areas that are regentrifying .. lots that have shadow plats beneath them. or you can split using a lot confirmation technique ( common in Portland)  you need to work areas of Scarcity .. 

Continuing this for 3-5 years while working two jobs, living tight, saving as much as possible and throwing it at investments so that I can then be reliably making 30-50k by around 4-5 years in.  

It's a back and forth game they play.

You can 1031 into passive opportunities later in life where the deferred tax continues to make a return for you all your life.2.

I'm off for now to continue learning!

As an alternative, I am thinking about purchasing a 2 bedroom condo or similarly sized property, and splitting the cost between my girlfriend and a roommate.Should I continue renting with a roomate or should I puchase a property and rent out a room? 

I fixed the issue straight away, there was no real problem.Hope it will continue like this.I read IRS publication 946.

I will need to minimize the amount of money left in the property so I can continue to grow my portfolio.