@Shanae Williams have a game plan for your rehab timeline and exit strategy and follow it strictly.A lot of people buy their first house as an "eventual investment property," get comfortable, end up staying there for years and never make it a rental property like they initially intended.Great idea if executed properly.

The point is, I know the area well and I'm already 1 or 2 degrees away from the most valuable players in the game here. 

Anyone have knowledge of these type developments?

$20m development articleI both live and have invested in this neighborhood. 

I haven't been in the game long enough to know what the gurus were talking about 10 years ago.  

As for the zoning references above, contact your local county's planning and development or zoning office to discuss what their process for finding out the zoning and then possibly changing the zoning on a location you are looking to buy.

That was going to be  my game plan...let the expectations be known and treat him like any other tenant both when screening and if they end up agreeing/signing a lease.

See the attached linkhttp://city.milwaukee.gov/AreaPlans/NearWest.htm#....Some of the local bigger players/companies  supporting the project are Harley Davidson, Miller Coors, Marquette HS, Marquette university, Aurora Health care and  West End Development Corporation.

That's a good start while you have W-2 income, and it will start you developing a knowledge base for managing a property and also start creating a track record of your performance.

Again, other investors may set different goals... for instance, someone who has been in the game a while and gotten really good at finding amazing deals and managing their portfolio super efficiently might not accept lower than a 15 to 20% CoC Return.When it comes to some of the "rules of thumb" like the 1% rule and the 50% expense rule, these are really more quick analysis tricks to help you understand whether a property is worth looking into further... not final criteria for whether or not you should buy.