It has been my life's mission to build my own duplex, house hack it & use it to catalyze the BRRR cycle.As I get closer to breaking ground on the project, I'm still not 100% confident in it's feasibility due to the costs of land & construction considering it is mandatory to secure an appraisal 20% above build & land cost. 

If your goal is appreciation, you'll find markets that have very little cash flow (if any), and you won't realize your return until much later down the road when cash flow catches up or you sell the property.There are probably thousands of markets to invest in.

Never built in Houston before so take my feedback with a grain of salt but I'd put money on it being impossible to build a duplex from scratch for $125 a foot (including everything from drawings, engineering, permit fees, general conditions, labor, material, landscaping).Out here in AZ the builder cost is going to be $200 a foot at best, but add 20% on top of that for the client cost.

I believe they are recouping costs associated with loans they don't close.

A good real estate accountant can save you thousands of dollars by leveraging entity selection and formation, tax deductions, cost segregations, bonus depreciation and tax planning.I recommend finding an accountant who specializes in real estate taxation, business taxation, financial planning and tax planning.You may want to consider working with your accountant remotely to expand your options.I would also recommend looking for a accountant willing to work with you throughout the year.

This means we have to get creative with the design: lower-cost tiles, white shaker cabinetry, and sometimes carpet in the bedrooms and basement. 

WE are seeing this in the Portland market.Montgomery Park the largest office complex in the state that sold about 7 years ago for 250 mil just got bought ( after no one bid it at foreclosure) for 25 mil by Menashe family. its over 1 million sq ft.. dont think you can lose on something like that. reminds me of the buys in 2010 in some markets were sfr's were selling for 1/4 of replacement costs..

That's your cost. 

That is, how well did your deal analyzer estimates match the actual rehab costs, holding costs, ARV, and profit?

(They claimed thousands for electrical using what appeared to be a fake electrical company, and they never had someone out to even check electrical beyond the general.)