I think it all comes down to getting off on the right foot with them and letting them know that you're NOT one of the corner cutters, or people who rehabs an entire home with zero permits and from everything I've heard they'll be fine to work with, but if its the opposite, then get ready for all sorts of issues or having the whole thing "red tagged" which means ALL work stops NOW, or the cops show up!

For me it was a friend who reminded me that 'even a wood-cutter has to stop to sharpen his tools, otherwise he ends up bashing with a blunt blade' lol... bit corny I know, but my suggestion is to include time in your day or week to let your mind go away from real-estate.  

I'm getting the feeling the bidding process is rigged so it goes to the agent's buddy.

I'm not cookie cutter so I don't expect anyone to relate nor pay for my oddities.

@Josh Gordon welcome to the site.The cookie cutter answer here is 6 months of reserves.

(Did I say i t rig ht?)

I got a 55 lcd, a bose speaker, 2 thin ps3s, 35 games, 2x 25 inch 1080p hp computer monitors, and more tools than I can handle.....including a dewalt grinder and sawzaw, a huge bolt cutter, countless handtools, and a Freon manifold gauge.......the best however, was that by looking at one of the tool bags, he was braking into vacant houses and stealing (which some of my places have been subjected to).....now I get to steal from one of them, legally...hahahathe story improves from there though.

In my area, this is not that big of a deal for the cookie cutter homes I usually deal with but it may be different in your area.

Once you find a buyer you can work with, I would have the title company draft the Deed of Trust, note, TIL and other the other docs required for compliance and to make this as close to cookie cutter as possible.

Appraisers in today's environment can be rather conservative on valuations.Flipping a 1400 sqft 3 bd 2 ba brick ranch on a street with 50 more just like it, in a neighborhood of 500 more cookie cutter homes might be a little boring but there isn't any mystery about what your ARV will be unless the market really moves before you sell.