I can look at photos of a newly rehabbed property hitting the market and know if corners were cut, and if the design choices will resonate with buyers. 

The penalty is really designed for big businesses like Home Depot who have thousands of independent carpet installers, ect.

Just starting out seems to be the first big hurdle so I'm looking toward some creative financing to meet my design expertise and get going.

The only flaw I see with your design on first glace is that your commission bonus structure is too generous. 

I have been searching for FEMA designations of 4A, which is in a low-lying area of southern New Jersey.

Pick 1 or 2 and concentrate on those and only those.Narrow that focusGo Hawks!

We have designated $30,000 for renovation and have not figure out how much additional this conversion to a 3 bedroom will cost.As it stands now, we have to replace the ceiling of the garage because of water damage and the garage doors are damaged so 2 garage door have a $800 replacement  estimate that is included in our $30,000 renovation costs.  

YOu should try LinkedIn for Architectural Interiors - Designer and Detailers ....Designers RX are quite good in this work...

Does anyone out there have feedback on current rental pricing trends and days on the market vs. say a year ago for cities that have a high concentration of absentee owners and/or cash buyers in locations that are NOT second home hot spots (Memphis, Birmingham, Richmond, VA come to mind)?  

This is designed for estate planning purposes to avoid the probate issue but some people use it to "hide" the sale of a property to avoid the DOS clause.