And I was able to scale up and get 12 houses basically for free by deploying equity from my rentals to buy more.

@Kamryn DeVaultTo invest in a duplex, consider factors like neighborhood quality, economic stability, safety, property condition, cash flow potential, financing options, tenant screening, lease agreements, future potential, legal and zoning considerations, maintenance and management, networking, and starting small and scaling.

You can find guidelines for determining material participation, the rules for determining who's a real estate professional and what's active participation, and the special rules that apply to the income and losses from a passive activity held through a publicly traded partnership (PTP) in Publication 925,"Basically, rental is generally passive unless you are a real estate professional, HOWEVER, refer to pub 925 for special rules.  

I do think something is off with what the realtor was doing if she asked for 30k in advance for staging which should be done by a different company, not her, but the post is basically just pure fear from not knowing what one is doing and then trying to out someone and take no responsibility.

After we paid him our nextinstallment of $45K, he basically disappeared in July and after reaching out tohim and his wife who also works with him, we've gotten minimal contactback/excuses/delays of when the final work is going to be done.

What I mean is if it's already a rental with most of the basics in place, it shouldn't matter if you spend 3k or 25k, if it cash flows sufficiently.

The BRRRR Method is really designed for this - I'd recommend buying the "BRRRR Book" in the BP bookstore and following that strategy - it basically outlines this exact gameplan in the opening chapters

Does anyone have a template with basic Scope of Work Pricing Estimates?

Basically, I agree with most of the responses, Bottomline, it's best if the repairs were done with all required permits, inspections, plans and engineering, etc.

@Jay Hinrichsabove SEEMS basic, BUT from the posts I’ve read A LOT of would be investors don’t understand that.