...but even then, 3 months does seem like a long vacancy if your property is in a major city. 3 months of vacancy probably indicates that A) the PM is not marketing the property correctly, or B) there's something making the property non-competitive (perhaps it's not as nice as other properties in the area, perhaps it's in an undesirable location, or maybe the rent is too high?)...

Had a foundation to mud-jack last year, so ticked that box.

Roofing, framing, windows, doors, trim, plumbing, electrical, sheet rock, mud and tape.

Everything points to those zip codes being "undesirable" areas even though, I would not call them "hoods" like you may see in bigger cities, more like low-income, majority African American areas, some of those lots have been on the MLS for over 5 years, so very low demand.One thing about Alabama is that, there are huge variations from city to city- Montgomery is not a desirable city,  Birmingham is going through some gentrification where you have homes in the 20-30K and 200-300K ranges in the same zip code.

By doing the dirty work, you should save quite a bit, even if you need to hire someone to tape and mud after the re-wire, although any self managing owner should master drywall repairs.

I'll probably give a significant rent bump if it comes to a new tenant, but keep it 85% or lower of market rate, to keep long-term and tenants on my side, despite the undesirable neighborhood.If you didn't buy cheap, you may not have that luxury and be able to still stay cash-flowing. 

The way I see it to be honest is that I have time to give, and am willing to do the undesirable work like errands and really whatever it is that investors would rather avoid doing and be willing to forgo some profit for that (Ultimately giving them added time for other important and new projects).As I am looking to get into a long-term career in Real Estate development & investment, I am wondering if anyone might be able to refer me to anyone they may know in Australia or contacts that would be helpful.Thanks very much and have a great day :)Marcos

Existing homeowners generally have the largest influence over zoning laws, and restricting new development both inflates the value of the assets they already possess and prevents undesired traffic in their communities.

My wife and I are looking for a good cabinet installer / carpenter to build a cabinet in our mud room next to our Kitchen.

Any framer/carpenter can do this along with drywall guys to put back the drywall, then tape, mud and sand to paint ready.