I started an automotive business on the thinnest of shoe-string budgets; way under capitalized. 

I usually provide our budget as well with totals spent. 

Considering it is already 2025 and they don't have a budget, you might also have an incompetent HOA to deal with.

It was honestly luck, I didn't know much about real estate I just knew I needed a house that was unappealing to others to be able to buy it and have it fit in our budget.

This is where I would focus, as these are the same attributes that attracted those responsible for the larger projects like the Bellweather District you mentioned in your initial post.With your budget I would recommend NW Philadelphia (Germantown and Mount Airy in particular).

Besides putting together the best SOW using accurate/actual quotes as @Peter Mckernan and @Alan Asriants commented above, another key aspect is tracking expenses (bookkeeping) and monitoring the budget throughout the project. 

From the numbers perspective it seems like it can pencil out depending on the rehab budget. 

I will say you do enough underwriting and something will eventually get missed (my last rehab was my first to go way over budget due to various reasons so I am not perfect).  

Slowly work your way up to bigger purchase price and rehab budgets.

But, there are still deals that can make sense depending on your budget.