I am 26 and will purchase my first property later this year (December time frame). 

Mike, do you have any ideas for how to manage my time in terms of setting daily goals and time frames?

I really like your idea of focusing on the time frame to keep from having to deal with "better" or "worse" in terms of the deal--things are more straight forward this way.

Normal time frame is about 30 days to find tenants with 4 it might take a bit longer.  

Whats your time frame to purchase and how serious are you?

We bought a HUD home during the "owner occupant" timeframe.

@Dave Pass I think what the poster may have meant is that you still need to provide the departed tenant with an accounting of their security deposit within the time frame required (30 days unless you allowed yourself 60 days per your lease).

So now you're a "pro" what would you do right now with $30k for maximum returns in a short time frame...pretending you are starting at day one of your investing career, with little to no contacts, no rehab team, etc.  

I've worked with two people who are engineers and both projects went over the time frame by several months, mainly because of trying to find the perfect answer or going out asking too many questions that made situations even more muddy.

Looking also for ideas on the timeframe of handling this future renovation.