My contractor mentioned he might've left them since he felt bad about up and leaving the job. 

You will be waiting a long time - that as mentioned was a black swan event just like when they went to like 18%.Historically speaking expect rates to be between 5-8%. my recommendation to anyone buying real estate today is if you buy, expect to hold it for atleast 5 years 

@Jorge Caceres I don't normally monitor for open windows but had another tenant mention it after which I did.

Lets say you needed $100k in financing at 12% + 2 points and it took you a year to rehab and refinance that is an extra $14k + closing costs.2. you mention roof is 18-20k.

As mentioned, one could run it sec8, for more $, and the sec8 waiting list has been full for 7+ years now.

The "high appreciation rates" you mention should be verified with recent data and be specific to the neighborhoods you're targeting.

As you mention, if you are using hard money yes you are paying more in interest and if you hvae the cash I would recommend using cash over hard money due to the high interest rate that you are paying.

Like @John Underwood mentioned, you need to set the expectation of a 5 star review.We're very specific on our messaging automation. 

Maryland’s DLLR site you mentioned is definitely a step in the right direction.

When you mentioned you did your homework on the turnkey property, if that were the case you would have had a really good idea what the property was worth before you offered on it (of course sparing the occasional rogue appraiser, which may be what happened to you... idk) and certainly before the appraisal.