Of course it needed some extra turnover work--landscaping, above ground pool removal, cleaning, trash removal, paint and other small amounts of wear and tear. 

If the home is 100 yrs old, I'm assuming it's a definite gut which is going to require new plumbing, electrical, heating, cosmetics.I spent about $140K reno on my multi family in the heights on NY ave and there were massive problems with it but it was a gut to 3 units & adding 2 bathrooms, 3 brand new kitchens 4 bathroom reno in total, all new flooring, sheetrock , insulation, framing, doors, electrical, plumbing, paint, parts of roof etc.

It’s true that freshly renovated properties should have lower maintenance costs in the first few years, but this doesn’t account for unexpected expenses.

There were some things that some of his crew had done wrong—the kind of things that you list in walk-throughs, like paint spatter.

You may have asbestos in the ceiling, floors or siding and you may have lead in the paint.

With a dozen properties over 25 years I have yet to spend a dollar on a roof or painting a house exterior.

You can only use a handyman for jobs under $500 as I recall....which will exclude tile, drywall, insulation, paint and well pretty much everything.... 

We fixed everything in the first 3-5 weeks, plus paint, carpet, landscaping, then rented it out.

Keep it simple, paint and carpet, buy a good house in a quality area.

We both know the numbers you used (mostly that 1000% return number) aren't practical, but humoring them paints an interesting picture about the financial advantage of leverage.