I don’t do the work on any houses except cut the grass on two rentals that I rent out by the room.

But if I count that as a lesson learned going forward they do produce a return above savings accounts and bonds so I kept the old policies and surrendered some of the newer ones still in the fee period to cut my losses and free up cash flow for REI.

I am going to walk through the home and make sure he has done everything I have asked and that it looks good. is their any other step i need to take before i pay him his final cut or is it time to move on to finding a renter

There was no way I was going to buy 100 of these and take on 20 million of other peoples debt without clear cut back up plan that included instant paying of their mortgage while i worked it out..

Are they taking a cut of the increase in sales price or are they just marking up their renovation services and charging for those?

If you start small you could either get a property manager which cuts into eventual profits, or convince your wife to help out in terms of managing loosely.

I have done projects where I would have been well served to have an architect (but I cut corners).

People are finally looking at ways to cut back on expenses and exorbitant housing cost is one of the first places that can significantly have an affect on one's budget.  

Further, you won't need to rely as much on appreciation and rate cuts to improve the cash flow situation.As others have pointed out, you can't overstate peace of mind.

The rents that the seller pays (discounted) are going to trip up trying to refinance out of hard money as any lender will use the lower amount to qualify thus cutting your loan down to be able to make the rents cover PITI.