I have been working with a wholesale brokerage here in Houston and I am an independent contractor for them and I Dispo all of their deals.

I currently have a very stable software engineer position and eventually hope to cut back hours or become a contractor that works 20 hours per week once I am able to hit some of my financial goals.The ADU seems like a potential way to keep my mortgage expenses down since I would just pay for it up front with the sell of the property.

A professional may often do a better job when it comes to hard decisions as it's just business to them.A DIY landlord though, may babysit their tenants a search high & low for the cheapest contractor and then pay them cash to get an even better price.- A PMC is not going to go to the extremes owners do as a PMC can only afford to spend X amount of time on problems for owners - or go out of business.

I've met contractors, partners, investros, lenders etc all at the meetups.

All the rehab deals we had took significantly longer than expected, costed more in rehab, bank refinances did not necessarily go as planned, contractors burned us in various ways, property mngt was a nightmare, etc.

I do have a contractor that has an amazing team that can do everything from the ground up to plumbing and HVAC.

I still need an estimate from a contractor to get a ballpark figure,  $30 was a speculation. 

You'll find a ton of investors there looking for more contractors, property managers, other investors to do deals with, and more. 

Let them help you with comparables, recommendations for the types of rentals that do best in that area, and maybe even connect you with a local contractor who will be able to get you an accurate (ish) estimate on required repairs. 

It will also be difficult to find a licensed contractor who will feel comfortable signing off on the work if they didn't do the work themselves.