We have been going all in on our remodels because the apartments are in such bad shape.

I was wondering if there was an area on bigger pockets for people either with those skills or people who are  looking for blueprints for a remodel or other items that may go along with renovation/newer construction work that could be involved in real estate investing?

I have used Edgar Rodriguez with TexTile for remodels.

I started investing roughly 6 months ago, buying my first duplex in May (54k pp, owe 48k on mortgage) payment with TI is $480/mo, no tenants as it is under remodel.

Or see if you can get one of those home improvement shows to remodel it for you for residential use.  

Tell them you want them to leave for remodeling and give them 60 days, in writing, and have them sign.

A retail contractor deals more with one offs such as home owner remodels, an investor friendly contractor is expecting to do multiple jobs and stay busy, thus keeping their subs busy, and will do the work for less of an upcharge.Once you have those two numbers figured out then it's just plug and play like stated above.

I took advantage of the opportunity to remodel the unit, although I didn't try to charge the insurance company for that. 

It has been another two weeks, and I've now paid the first month mortgage on the unit, and still have no renters.I've listed in Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, TenantCloud (including the third party sites ie: Zillow, Trulia, Apartments, etc..)My listing reads as such:Enjoy Lake Owasso, tennis or the pool with this architecturally designed remodel.

As far as partnering with him, a partnership on a rental property may be an option if I can bring credit or financing to the table, but I am getting paid to do the layout design, drawings, and material selections for his new construction investments and client remodels, so no opportunity on that end.