Getting multiple contractors involved will be your best bet to get a reliable estimate, though you need to come up with a scope of work.

@Mic Salvador,Doing BRRRR out of state is going to be pretty tough, unless you’re willing to move there and live on-site for the duration of the rehab and leasing process.I run a turnkey operation out in Alabama and I saw that @Min Zhang already recommended turnkey as a possible alternative—have you given that any thought?

I bet there are some ways you could proactively plan so the problem almost resolves itself. 

Welcome to the site.

Jake and Gino have one you can download from their site, but it wasn't like the pitch decks I've seen for non-real estate investments; it's a little cartoonish and didn't make me want to become an investor with them.

Someone I know bought a ranch to use as a short term rental property in 2021 for $1.7 million.Engineers did a virtual site visit, they were able to assign a value of $347,000 to either 5-7-15 year assets that were eligible for depreciation.In 2021, the bonus depreciation amount that you could take was 100%.This means that the owner could immediately deduct the full amount of eligible property in the year it was placed in service, rather than depreciating it over time.With that in mind, he took the full $347K deduction in his FIRST YEAR of ownership to offset taxable income from rentals.This was roughly ~20% of his purchase price.It was a big win for him.In 2024, the bonus depreciation rate is 60% so the calculation would be different.That said, you can still save and defer a ton.

I also read in real estate by the numbers that it's risky to bet on market appreciation.

As an accredited investor you have access to hundreds of new potential syndications every month (and crowdfunding deals which are the same thing except are allowed to market on the Internet).You may want to start off on a site like CrowdStreet or FinResi , where you can view the variety ( different types of asset classes, strategies, stances) and start to come up with your own method for looking at deals (which matches your unique, personal  risk tolerance, financial situation and financial goals).Thanks Ian.

I imagine you'll have the same issue with the unpermitted kitchenetteIf you can rent the property as a MTR then listing on Furnished Finder will probably be your best bet.

Sites like Census.gov or Zillow's market trends can give great insights.