Naturally, I assumed REI’s "white-glove" service included a strong legal team to handle these situations efficiently.

I just had a realtor come over who suggested I demo them and put in wall mounted armoires that have external doors that have doors at least 2'4" by 6'8" so that I would meet Oakland's definition for a closet and allow my bedrooms to meet Oakland Code and regain much needed floorspace and get much more efficient closets. 

It would be so much more efficient if we made this small change.”

While rates can be higher, they are efficient for temporary needs.2.

This method offers greater efficiency, ease of use, and reliability.

If you want to quote out high efficiency boilers for six Tripple deckers for example requiring installation of separate gas, meters etc. etc. - that might be a situation where you would want to work with a contractor directly because you would have lots of different options with widely varying costs.

So the incentives don't truly align so you have to REALLY want to make it happen and likely do several deals to create efficiencies.

Not to say you cannot find a deal in many of those states but for a first time investor wanting to be cost efficient it makes little sense to stick to those states.You do have states like Indiana, Ohio, Tenn, Florida, Georgia, Texas that offer higher inventory of home prices even 2-4 unit multifamily that are under $200K.

My first self-developed software gave me efficiency.  

It’s gotten me seriously considering bringing an attorney in-house to handle evictions and other legal needs moving forward.I’m evaluating this from two angles:Cost Efficiency: With the expense as high as it is, having in-house counsel could potentially reduce costs over time.