However, higher-than-expected costs, contractor expenses, pest control, inflation, or unexpected work can make it untenable to maintain the rental property.What can you do if maintenance is becoming a financial burden?

I would just check to see what is covered by the “tune-up” by your local contractors.

Can you demo the bathroom and/or kitchen and have maybe a bid from a contractor to remodel which (I would think) would truly make it unavailable? 

I have vetted and used contractors over the years, but the only thing holding me back is funding.Also, if anyone is currently investing or looking to invest on the south and southeast sides of Chicago, please feel free to connect.

We hired a contractor to renovate our basement, and they just "finished" self-leveling the concrete floor and framing.

If you build (via managing a general contractor), you should (ideally) know more about how the property was built than if you bought an existing home--you know what's behind the walls, and ideally you might avoid anything wrong with buying an existing home with issues you and your inspector didn't catch.I understand there's risk to building--it just seems right now that the risk is lower than buying an existing house--a house where you simply cannot know every detail without tearing it down to the studs and doing a complete remodel.

Broke down the doors and stole all of my mechanicals + material on-site (resulting in ~$30K worth of damage)I just had a contractor walkthrough and talk to neighbors and apparently there is now a homeless man who has been sleeping upstairs (he wasn't present, however bedding was present).

Read: the trust of the agents and contractors you work with will go so far as their good will does.

These agents often have exclusive access to properties that aren’t publicly listed, and networking with them increases your chances of getting the first look at these hidden gems.Build a professional network Build a professional network of wholesalers, contractors, and investors using real estate forums like BiggerPockets.These real estate professionals often know about potential sales before they become public.

I’m completely new to fix and flip but I have been doing some research, I’ve been looking at distressed properties in my area for example one I’m looking at now the listing price is $359k Arv is $550k the contractor fee would be $33k without materials I’ve been looking at fix and flip loans saying they would finance 90% LTC and 100% rehab .