Because I have large temperature fluctuations in all months except July and August, I can only assume they will be flipping the thermostat from hot to cold, as night and day ..I had never written into the lease specifics for house temperatures (I never thought I would honestly see someone up a thermostat up that high lol), but I know in my province of Manitoba that during the winter, temperature must be room 21 Celsius during the day and a minimum of 18 Celsius at night.

The problem is, when you get near water, per-square-foot values are going to fluctuate tremendously based on proximity to the water, water access (dock, access, frontage, etc), view, etc. 

25% grossed for conventional and VA is still the same however FHA fluctuations depending locality.

The houses fluctuate from $30k all the way to $130k.

Where as with an estimate the price does not fluctuate with the temperature,weather,health of the Contractor.  

With that being said two guys for eight hours a day equals 48 man hours.  48x65=$3,120 in labor alone.Again as stated above, this number can fluctuate greatly depending on the size of the bathroom, finish quality, niches, pattern, ect. 

I recommend increasing their charge by 10% to cover fluctuations and setting a limit.

20 years ago. second best time is todaySpeculation won't get you anywhere unless you want to take big risks and hope this or that happens.If you have a consistent strategy and hold/manage/rent then in the long run you will do very well.Maybe some short term fluctuation but learn to live with that.There was a psychology experiment where investors where given two funds into invest in.

I think you can have both scale and diversity in portions which achieve your overall goals.If you are a remote investor, and using property management, there will be a threshold of scale - number of units you hold in a single market - which will garner you a better rate/unit for property management costs.On the macro-economic level, distribution of holdings in different regions (states/provinces, countries) with diverse economic drivers and a low-level of coupling will help smooth the bumps of fluctuation in local economies.So perhaps it is not a question of Dallas or Indianapolis, but one of how much Dallas and Indianapolis and do your acquire them in parallel or sequentially.

The bad news: regulations fluctuate so purchasing a property that relies on STR to make the math work can be risky.I live in Los Osos (very STR friendly) and just purchased an investment property in downtown SLO (not as STR friendly).