In 1986 at age 21, I partnered with my ex to build a 3600 sq ft 2 story home on 4 acres  for $65k by diy and the barter system as he was an electrician bartering amongst other contractors for plumbing, hvac, framing, and just about every process involved in building a house.I did alot of the painting and drywall and learned alot of rehab skills that have kept me through several more projects. My son still has that house.

At age 23 I bought 5 acres for 10 k and it was a perfect rectangle with even frontage wider than depth. I had it resurveyed into 5-1 acre lots and sold them all for $7500 & each owner financed.This was before impact fees for well and septic. I then bought a commercial lot for 17k and held onto it a few years then sold it for 55k owner financed ,I guess I was about 34 when I sold it.

.I never stepped foot on any of the land I just had to do paperwork. It was the easiest $ I ever made. We have since aquired 6 properties of which 4 are paid off, 4 are income producing, 1 is a primary residence and 2 are tax deed properties that were bought over the counter for base tax with no competition.We made 55k on our first lands available tax deed property sale. The 2nd has 528 ft of frontage on a main road is 2.56 acres with 2 tiny houses and a mobile home. We will rezone that commercial when Amazon is done building down the road. The 3rd tax deed bought otc is a commercial ccg2 lot we are buying otc with my son and niece to teach them the process. Duval County Florida has like 700 properties you can buy post auction over the counter with no competition. We have another property that we will rezone commerxial as well that was not a tax deed purchase. We have been landlords since 2004. I prefer land by far! When you find the right land, It is a lot less work. We have rehabbed 4 properties in recent years. I do all the finish work and trim, using all the saws. I enjoy finish work and flooring and tile. I  Still have a day job with USPS 29 years. I started a Facebook group posting 10 county local foreclosure and tax deed auctions in and around Jacksonville Florida. I started it because I had to give my 18 year old brother 26k out of a family probate rehab we just did & I wanted him to invest it wisely. I post all the online and live at the court house tax deed and foreclosure auctions and 3rd party results for Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Duval, Flagler, Nassau, Putnam & St John's  COUNTIES to N.E. FLORIDA COUNTIES REAL ESTATE AUCTION INFORMATION on Facebook. Join if you want. I am not a huge Facebook fan but young people are now watching and are inspired to invest., So I will keep it going . Plus if you pay attention, you won't miss an auction and following results teaches you alot. I have been offered an early out on retirement and will transition to full time investor after 3/31 with a heavy focus on lands available lists post tax deed auction. Duval county has many otc tax properties in 32206, 08 , 09, 19 and 54. I would like to teach this process to newbies who already live in those zip codes and offer partnerships and barterships in acquisitions to help rebuild some of those areas.