They'll spend a lot of time warning up and getting back into the groove.

I will consider taking this route though especially if I can’t find a duplex in my budget. 

A client of mine recently invested there and raves aboutt the ease of finding solid contractors who stick to the budget.One piece of advice: before jumping into any market, spend time understanding the local economy, demand drivers (like job growth and population trends), and the landloard laws.

It feels like the first week of the month, I spend chasing down payments to make sure all of my loans are paid, even though I have everything on autopay. 

Take the money you would be spending on filing and additional costs and put it toward an umbrella policy.

We went over budget in some areas and in others we were under.

There is still a risk: You do not have the right outprice and lose money, your deal goes south due to unfound things when you bought it, then the rehab phase brings them up, and you spend more, and the market changes, which is something that can happen on a moment's notice.

If you budget the negative cash flow over the course of the hold period and have reserves set aside to fill the gap, there is no problem (assuming your investment meets your target appreciation rates - I understand there is no guarantee there). 

I know when I was an active Broker my SOP  was get listing open escrow with buyer to be determined and order the preliminary title report prior to spending money on marketing someones property..

With that said I feel like I significantly improved my position and reduced my stress..Being  high income earner is great, but the goal is what you keep and what you spend.