It's very on-brand for the city to have an error on their end when starting the process, though.

I just got notice that both renters in my duplex are vacating end of March.

Why not use the higher end of the estimate and once you are serious about putting in an offer contact your broker then?

You are free to set your terms and connect YOUR client to the private lender that you think will work best for your client.I think the skills taught and the resources provided in this course are worth the $500.Having said all that, as I stated before, at the end of the four weeks I discovered that I would not be able to apply this to my particular niche. 

high prices have made properties expensive and high rates have made money expensive. 

I'd highly recommend house hacking in your local market since you're in one of the highest cost of living areas in the US, especially if you're renting currently and planning on staying in the area for 5-10 years.It sounds sexy to go out and invest out of state for your first property.

I would highly encourage paying a GC to walk deals out the gate, have them give a scope of work so you can see what items costs.

I imagine cost of labor might be a little bit cheaper in Idaho compared to Connecticut as we ended up paying 10k for gas furnace and 5k for AC with 10 yr warranty for Lennox product.  

I have not paid retail for RE in many years and would not in my high cost market (average SFH is ~$1m).  

Creative financing can help sellers make more money, solve pain points, gets them the money they need, and help them avoid a high tax bill.