Budget is $200,000 and I plan to put down 20% that is a gift from my mother.I talked to a mortgage broker with Edge Home Finance and submitted an application for pre-approval.

Have been doing research and spending time here on BP and those seemed like the best markets in general and given our budget (we're based in CA so $50k doesn't get us anywhere here).

Get rid of debt, build a budget, and save.

An AFCI  device senses the delta between power and in neutral in an attempt to detect an arc that's bridging air space.Most AHJ'S here now require pretty much every circuit to use a AFCI/GFCI combo breaker.Those retail circuit seekers (tracers) from the retailers aren't very good, a good budget one is north of$500, good one's are $1500-$3k

I have bought plenty of bad deals: I overpaid, rehab ran 30k over budget, appraisal comes back low, contractors from hell, you name it - but real estate has that thing, a few years later it does not even matter anymore, even if you overpaid for the property.Get comfortable not knowing everything before you start.

Get rid of debt, build a budget, and save.

I got quoted about $15-$20k for a rehab on just one of the units and that just doesn’t fit my budget whatsoever.

It made it easy to compare quotes and ultimately choose the best option for my budget and needs.

so my first out of state investment property is current $7000 over budgets and looks like I have about another $8500 plus materials to go. thoughts?

Since you got an appraisal done about a year ago you can add about 10% to that value they provided to get an idea of where fair market value stands today as a ballpark.No appraiser I know is going to look at the HOA financials and factor that in, because they are only concerned with the asset for appraisal although we all know the health of the HOA and financials still play a factor in the sale of a condo.I'm dealing with a similar HOA right now for one of my listings where the reserve is at only 7% funded for what's needed for the budget and there is an upcoming special assessment for each unit.