Without a contract in place, and with no prices being quoted, or estimates made beforehand, we have what’s essentially an after the fact negotiation.  

BiggerPockets (BP) does have some tools and templates that can help keep you organized (like checklists for inspections, title, and earnest money).

@Orlando Kell In that case one of my other favorite books outside of Jscotts that I recommend is What Your Contractor Can't Tell You: The Essential Guide to Building and Renovating

the first step that I would take is to find an investor from the realtor in your area and you can build a lot of your network just piggybacking off of theirs with their recommendations of contractors and other professionals biggerPockets has a great tool for finding realtors.

(It’s a great tool)I am located in Oceanside/carlsbad area.Using the VA on two places has a lot of limitations with the cost of homes in this area it makes it near impossible however having a good VA loan officer is key for part of your team.I am actually helping another client in a very similar situation.

So, essentially, you are introducing a new uncontrollable risk into your landlord proforma.

The eviction came about after this management company essentially held the house ransom stating they would not vacate the property unless I wire transferred funds to meet their $3,650 demand.

fastpeoplesearch.com has been my go-to free tool for finding people's contact info. 

Don't expect it to be easy because it will never be.Skip tracing is a tool that finds any number associated with the requested address.

Be sure to check out the free tools BP provides to help analyze deals you may have and also market insights.