Doing the work yourself will take longer, you won't be able to buy supplies at contractor discounts, and the longer you take to get the work done the longer you have carrying costs without rent money to cover it.

That being said, you're still willing to offer them a steep discount over current market rates. 

Bear markets are an excellent opportunity to invest and buy stocks and real estate at a huge discount.

This requires buying at  severe discount.

I know where I buy it's tremendously difficult to build "within city limits" but if you cross into the neighboring city it's surprisingly easy.

She noted that the houses that straddled the fault lines were always for sale and at a discount compared to others in the area.  

You don't want a lot of properties with negative cash flows.I would also suggest looking to purchase properties at a discount to their appraised value either by purchasing them direct from homeowners in preforeclosure or finding REO properties.

You can do ok, but I would highly recommend you look for a home with the same type of numbers less the HOA to increase your cash flow and profitability tremendously. 

I bought a home in The Colony at a large discount for $102k and rent for $1300 (rents are $1500-$1700 in neighborhood and I'm selling to tenants this month for $170k) and just sold one in Arlington for $107k and rents were $1200-$1300.

Don't discount those folks who haven't ever done a deal.