I know Redfin loves this since this is part of their model. 

I'm happy to help you model it out as I'm interested in what the analysis will tell us but I need some more info.

Some people respond that they have "plans" to build, but I find that a large percentage of the people I'm calling / texting have had "plans" to build for over 10 years .... my goal is to just keep these leads warm so that when they are ready to let go of the property they think of me first.Part of the issue with the idea of "casting a wide net" is that we have pretty specific neighborhoods and criteriafor what will work with our business model.

And although @Michael Plaks makes a great case about tenant destruction (he doesn't trust anyone :), if your model was a short-term rental you won't have nearly as much wear and tear I would imagine. 

You have so many upsides to RE investing like depreciation/tax advantages, appreciation, different business models you can run (str, MTR, ltr), long term appreciation.

This is why most forecasting is modelling the bottom of Class B/C would be around 6-7% cap rate.

And when you do a cash out refinance right before a sale (conventional wisdom says within 12 months or so) you are taking part of the profit out.The answer is to adjust your model just a little bit. 

If I were you, I would stick to the better situated markets and if the flip model is not working, focus on different strategies until you can make it work with necessary margin (especially on your first project where there will be a learning curve).

I always use property management, and until I have better data, ill always model expense + rent loss + cap ex at 50% of gross rents. 

I would start getting rent rolls and historical financials and building out a model from there to then used as a basis for marketing materials for syndication.