The bigger breeds stay in their "puppy" stages much longer than a smaller breed dog. 

But I'm more in your stage now already have Bay Area property but want to move up so I figure could I try to acquire property in a good area from pocket listing or wholesalers and add value to the house.

I am moving towards putting up curtain rods and inexpensive curtains though- I feel they hold up better, I can wash them (if the tenant didn't) rather than dealing with the utter pain it is to clean miniblinds, tenants seem to like them better, and they look a whole lot nicer. 

I’d like a more specific ‘scope of work’ and detailed stage by stage punchlist type document so we can be on the same page.  

I’m in the early stages of putting a team together with the goal of aquiring multi family units in central Iowa.

@Andrew Johnson covers a portion of this as he mentioned factoring in his rehab cost during his initial stages, not sure if he's referring to long-term property holds of 20-30+ years.Also keep in mind these strategies will change based on property type, SFR, Duplex, Quads, etc... will be treated differently than a 20 unit building, which will be treated differently than a 120 unit asset, and so on.... this will also get you different replies to your question as the different debt structures will fulfill different requirements of the investors.

I recently found a private money lender with the potential of funding my real estate deal in which is in its early stages.

at this stage in the real estate cycle make sure the rentals are going to be good for long term holds.

Hint: Don't skimp on staging costs for this one.

If property owners are not using an architect at this stage, are they simply making a submission based on an educated guess as to how much it will cost to provide the space needed?