Now if you are just doing a kitchen or a bathroom, most folks on here are looking for a small crew.... not really a GC but sort of.

I would recommend using a calculator to evaluate future rates and determine at what point in time/rate would you cash-flow at a comfortable level (after capex, repairs, vacancy, pm, etc). 

Therefore trying to get a bit creative with the financing.Positive cash flow will almost be impossible (as I'll have to probably take one bed away, and then build a bath and a kitchen) in what I've been finding, so Im trying to offset the mortgage as much as possible.Long term, ideally I get to keep it and the 2nd unit adds to the cash flow if I ever dont need it anymore. 

For example if they did backsplash on the kitchen, make sure no tiles are cracked and there's no small little holes in the grout between the wall outlets.

I grew up in a house that had a hand pump in the kitchen and we had an outhouse in the shop out back.

Kitchen? 

And she never blinked when I went full time real estate investing and being the Dad with a 2 year runway in the bank 6 years ago at 48.

Ceilings need to go too, but floors are fine except for a few problem spots. 5,000 sq ft.  6 kitchens, 6 baths, and about 35 total rooms, closets, hallways, etc. 

Hey Sarah, totally can relate with you being from an expensive real estate market - I moved to Columbus a few years ago (from Portland, Oregon which was super expensive) to become a full time real estate investor, and ever since, I've completed quite a lot of BRRRRs, flips, and own a successful rental portfolio here in Columbus Ohio.

To add to what was mentioned, I would look at the maintenance history of the property to see what repairs have been made that are more capital in nature (say, new counter tops or kitchen) versus an ongoing issue (plumbing backing up every few months).How is the insurance search going for you as well.