I have gotten some estimates and that looks like about $30k total if I just use local contractors, If I do some of the work myself and do it as cheap as possible, I might be able to do it for $20k. 

I'm particularly passionate about house hacking.Outside of real estate, I enjoy doing carpentry work and hopefully could put that knowledge into real estate as well.Excited to learn and connect with you all! 

The bigger challenger with this arrangement is finding contractors that have the financial wherewithal and general professionalism to submit true invoices for work completed and willing to let it sit out there for sometimes 2-4 weeks until the draw comes in to be paid.  

Contractors, investors, lenders, etc. 3.

You will, likely, be required to sign and comply with their auxillary agreements, which you may not like/enjoy if push comes to shove. 

And they wouldn't do it for us as owner occupants because our revenue comes from selling houses (hell - we're a general contractor - thats how we make our money) which was strange but its their rules. 

I'm all for making sacrifices, but we also do want to enjoy life along the way.I hope this helps.

Challenges: Renovations were delayed due to contractors moving slower than anticipated.

2/3 of the units are singles/studios, so generally higher turnover, causing higher fees for clean outs and lease ups, etc, etcRecently had to get a "fire rated" door to the roof replaced from some city inspection, the first  bids were $3800-$4500, but with the right contractors and a little of my own time and motivation, i got the job done for less than $1500 and 12 hours of my time, and it had 2x the fire rating than the city required.

Coule of additinal questions:1) do you have a responsible and reasonable contractor you would recommend?