For what it's worth, I budget 8% for CapEx and another 8% for routine maintenance.

The short sale approval process routinely takes approximately 90 days to get an approval.

Have them recommend a routine maintenance schedule, advice you on existing issues, and give you an idea of what might happen in the future based on the systems you have.On wells, you will essentially follow the same steps but you will be using a plumber.  

@Alex Gitman  Alex this is pretty routine stuff to figure out your lien position.. but if you were a unsophisticated investor and did not really understand notes or Real estate I can see how this happened and you probably just took this guys word for it...

@Jerrell SlayHey Jerrell, this is a very good questions and in my opinion your daily routines is what sets great wholesalers apart from bad to average wholesalers.A rough draft of my schedule will be as follows..Wake at 8am and scrub for new leads while having coffee..Work out eat lunch and then I get to my office by 12..From there I close out all my tasks for the day in zoho which takes me about an hour or so..From there I usually try and read or study for a bit while staying active on bigger pockets.I try and stay at the office till 5 and then I am done for the day. 

First piece of advice, if you're planning to buy a property in the next 24 months with any type of traditional financing, do your best to make that happen within the next 6 months.Lenders get really uncomfortable about making loans within 6 mo. of your exit date, and once you're out, you'll have some difficulty getting a loan without "steady" job history.Chad Bowman out of Austin will be your very best resource if you plan on using a VA loan.

You are uncomfortable with managers?  

Unless they are Eskimos, they'll heat the house. 40 degrees is very uncomfortable to live in. :).

As I said most RE agents handle clients by throwing a bowl of  canned sales routines and self-serving gimmick spaghetti against a wall and seeing what sticks.

@Jason MakWe routinely recoup about 95% of utilities in the areas that the market comps allow us to charge back utilities.