It is very uncomfortable conversation to tell someone our estimate was wrong, this is why we are conservative on our estimates.

Then scale as fast as you are comfortable (or uncomfortable) doing.

@Timothy LivingstonWish I had a great answer for you, but what helps me is simple routine.

While it would have been a substantial cost up-front, it would have made a considerable amount of money in the long term, simply in terms of routine maintenance and return in higher rents.

I've had social workers working for agencies who routinely defend their client's behavior, as if violent, argumentative behavior, domestic violence, illegal drug use, violation of lease terms, and of course, always combined with non-payment of rent, were just a "cultural" difference. 

@Matt BerklacyI also agree with Account Closed; Usually the seller or buyer; get uncomfortable when the profit is say over $5000 and/or 5% of the property value; in the case of contract assignment.You can use transactional funding from lenders; as this way; the end buyer and your seller does not know the profit you are making. 

A better-paid position than I ever thought I'd hold, and most certainly doing a lot less work than I was routinely called upon to do as a teacher, but still a job, with significant availability demands.

I'm routinely seeing .5 or .6 - haven't seen 1% for about 6 years.

Odds are you will get a no - but you can follow up with routine direct mail every fews months afterwards to keep your name in their head for if they do need to sell.

I fix 3-5 problems like that every week, and it's routine for me.If they pass the above simple questions, it's time for the advanced questions.