Sounds like the advice is to lock up the capital in the form of down payments and wait and play the long game.

Was able to take advantage of low interest rates and lock in favorable 30 year conventional loans.

Should I agree to not be able to refinance for 5 years to get a lower interest rate or do you think rates will go down low enough that refinancing within the next 5 years would be worth it?

Hey @Andrew Laurence - the other comment already mentioned this, but ensure that you vet your builder and their previous work quality before pulling the trigger. 

Just make sure you educate yourself before pulling the trigger.

I'll be making ~$30k above median income for my city next year and would really like to pull the trigger on something within the next 12 months once I learn more. 

One thing that really helped me make decisions is my understanding of the macro economy and stock trading so I know when to buy when to sell and when to run away.The problem with Fed adding 4x more dollars in circulation is an early sign it will trigger asset inflation followed by the interest rate hike.

In this case I would strongly recommend using a combination of an LLC and a Land Trust to avoid triggering the due on sale clause.

Then the house is "pending" and you essentially have it locked down, but you must get the house paid etc before the auction date. 

This will give you a jump start of not pulling the trigger in Cleveland while you analyze properties and wait for the perfect one..you already have your first one, so the second will be much easier.