@Maggie Jones A 150/sf in LA is doable, cheapest material out there, all finish items like flooring or tile will have to be under $1/sf, fixture is the cheapest you could find, faucets are $20/pc.

I've read much of Michael Blank's material, as well.

But remember if you rent you might invest in High Use High Abuse materials so you aren't constantly replacing every re-rent.  

South Coast Supply in Los Alamitos sells material for block fencing and can give very good/ reliable contractor references for the install.

I'm new to the game and have spent the last year or so learning as much as I can through BP and other reading materials.

In effect they would be paying for the exact same material/ damage that was previously paid for.Scenario 2: I as a homeowner and I put a claim in for damage to my roof.

My rule of thumb for rehab costs is try to gain at least $2 value increase for every $1 spent on labor and materials.

In addition to the podcast, blogs, and forums, I found the BP books to be super helpful and easy to digest: http://biggerpockets.com/books and there's also a free intro video course that has a lot of the same material as the Book on Rental Property Investing: https://www.biggerpockets.com/courses/a-beginners-introduction-to-real-estate-investing

Offer to pay him by the square foot and you buy the materials.

Investors generally want to pay for direct labor and direct materials and not pay for the contractor risk (OSHA, aebestos, LNI, litigation, construction defect risk management, lead based paint, surprises, injuries, etc.)