So how do you cut through the noise to find the base rate? 

This is an internal accounting requirement  You can cut a check to any member as a drawing or return of capital, to them individually, that's not an issue. 

You're cut out to be a local nosey neighbor.

The enclosures are 3 piece that are cut on the property to ensure a proper fit and so on and so forth.

This setup might not be viable for most investors, as offering rent-free or low rent significantly cuts into their returns, especially with you staying long-term.

If you're looking to cut costs on a PM I would recommend using one for placing the tenant and then not having them manage monthly, I'm pretty sure some offer this option.

My handyman fixed the sheetrock after remediation that was cut by the mold team.

That said, I think the reason many building departments are so stringent with investors is the illusion that most are looking to cut corners for the sake of profit.

You think that you hired a specialist and are paying for the corresponding quality, while in reality you might have some under-trained, unmotivated and unsupervised anonymous data entry clerk doing the work, full of costly mistakes and cut corners.Often, low-cost CPAs get overwhelmed with the amount of work they take, resulting in rushed poor quality product and mediocre (or worse) service.

Is the Only Way to Negotiate a Lower Price with Builders is to have a pain in the butt inspector find a laundry list of problems and meaningless in the grand scheme defects to compel them to cut their numbers to move to acceptance and closing?