I even carry a notepad now, so if I find myself on a 5 minute break waiting for an order, I will jot down any ideas or information I want to revisit later.

When you're getting started it's the people you choose to surround yourself with that can make or break you at the early stages of your career (or career rebrand as in your case).Good luck!

I'd suggest breaking things down a little bit, especially why it is so important for your parents to 'own' a home which is definitely a liability, however it may mean some security.

Feel pretty confident in that number, so based a 75% refi LTV on that ARV.I am not too worried about cash flow at this juncture - I am happy to have close to break even properties on these cosmetic rehab deals.  

I’m new to Real estate and have an opportunity to buy a duplex for 440,000 in the local dallas area but before I make any decisions I wanted to know the best way to break a deal down so I can create cash flow

Why sell it to you for less than them breaking even.

With a purchase price of $306k I imagine you could break that down even further than just building and land.

For example, someone might kick the door in and the tenant claims that it "was that much easier to break in" because of the cracked window in the door.  

I did some quick math on it and the break even point was somewhere around 15-20 years.

When you've had a troubled investment, and there is a way to make a profit (or break even) and walk away, take it.