To leverage or not is a balance of risk/reward unique to each property and individual.  

I have emailed and left voice messages for numerous contractors with very little response.

Hi All, So I did some looking around on the forums within this sub-topic and it looks like there are numerous recommendations for CPA.

Also, again, speaking to your lender on that is a smart move, the ones I know are really good at explaining those risks and rewards and advising.Hopefully this helps, also, from your list above of people on your team, in effect, I would very highly recommend a good attorney experienced with landlord and renter issues and a very good real estate attorney to use with all your future transactions.And another side note on acquisitions, do you check auction sites?

(I don’t want to reward bad behavior) What else am I not seeing, that I need to know about?

I find it rewarding to help my clients along the process and make recommendations of what is appropriate for them in the investing or home purchase journey.  

I think sometimes investors get tunnel vision and focus on one number when the reality is there are numerous things that go into a safe and stable investment in real estate.  

In addition to no heat, there were numerous other damages throughout the house, door knobs ripped out, holes in interior doors, a/c cover missing/broken, fast-food bags laying around half eaten, bottom basement step broken. 

It doesn't matter to me whether my potential money partner is using self-directed IRA funds or personal funds, what's important is that they understand the risk and reward offered in the deal. 

We've seen what can go wrong and the risk IMO outweighs the reward of starting work early.