That's why appraisers do the comparative approach and then secondarily the cost approach.So far, 100% of the time you don't get dollar for dollar back from what I've seen.

Real estate has always been in the back of my mind as a way to increase our wealth and provide for our family.

If you go the rehab route, you can refinance when finished with the work into a DSCR loan to get all/most of you initial investment back if you found a good deal.

Hindsight is 20/20, my husband was house-hacking way back when we first married.

Initially, I had listed it and found a buyer, but the deal fell through when the buyer had to back out.

Often times they come back with a list of repairs that they would like to see to protect the home or mitigate liability. 90% of the time those items were on our list to fix anyway, and sometimes we even haven't done before we get the letter from the insurance company.

So i put in an offer for 10% down conventional loan, $530,000 with 10k back to me for closing costs and it was accepted right away.

Any other fees such as close out fees or payoff demands are paid out on the back end when your loan is refinanced or paid off.

I currently work with investors looking to build their portfolio with single-family, long-term rentals while managing for them on the back end, making is hands-free for the investor to still work their W-2 job and live their everyday lives and spend it with family, hobbies, etc. 

This is where you generate cash and you can then invest it in RE - or something else.Most of the guru content was written a decade ago and it just does not apply the same way it did back then.