We did get much lower costs when we changed to minisplits but the initial cost is high.

So, they make honest mistakes that can still cost you thousands of dollars.- If you try to hire contractor directly, you have about a 90%+ chance of getting taken advantage of.

All strategies can be lucrative and all can be costly. 

The savings from either will be many times the cost of the lawyer.  

Never invest in any city on this list of the 50 most dangerous US cities.Low operating costs: High operating costs are one of the driving factors for many companies, leaving states with high taxes, regulations, and other costs.

I wasn’t prepared to lose so much of my savings as carrying cost basically I paid for the tenants to live there for 3 months + my own living expenses in that time.

Many times they will hold back the renovation costs in escrow and release once you’ve shown the renovated unit and leased it.  

Credit cards have the same limitation on the amount you can borrow and will likely end up costing more than private lenders.

Then do a 'seismic strapping' to aid in halting further movement.IMHO this should cost closer to $20,000.

You can usually get a lender to go 85% of cost or 70% of the As Completed Value for such a project.