Even with the use of contractors, it is work managing the contractors and making various decisions.  2) value adds have risks.  

if the property is in Oregon they need state MLS and NMLS registration for ANY loan on a 1 to 4 unit regardless of purpose.

IF you wanted to buy properties on the cheap AND do the work yourself (instead of hiring a contractor), then you want to buy with HML, do the renovations, then do a cash out refi and move into it.

I found a contractor that was on the list of vendors for one of the Bigger Pockets realtors. 

She realizes after we paid her and contractors she hired over $5,000 to get it painted , cleaned etc that we are out of money and she agreed to not charge us anymore but is still somewhat helping us and showing to potential renters .We have discussed different terms as I told her from her on out we can’t afford the monthly rate anymore .  

I understand that rents and flips will have different criteria's of renovations and that I could always get a contractor to go out and get a quote; however, is there a way to learn on my own and be able to analyze how much a rehab will cost just from walking a house and going to a showing. 

I am contractor in Toledo Ohio.

Higher Costs for Distressed PropertiesTo comply with the new regulations, flippers will need to rely on licensed contractors for repairs, who typically charge higher fees than non-licensed labor.

Narrow down to one then build your core four of a realtor, lender, property manager, and contractors.

Its a little more expensive but when our tenants put in maintenance requests we can simply forward those to our contractors.