You may have to search a bit for the right contractor or engineer - sometimes I see one solution dominating in an area - "that is how we always do it" 

It’s interesting how you mention that offering flexibility as a lender has opened up opportunities for borrowers to pursue deals they might not have otherwise been able to.As a private money lender, I'm always looking for ways to improve my services and better support investors like yourself.

What I would do is talk to the neighbor and mention that the fence looks like crap and I am willing to replace it on my dime .

You have to pay people to do things for you, you would normally do yourself.

Do you think this might be your area? 

This is the max it seems most "A" lenders will loan too, I might get 50% from a credit union but that still probably not help in the short term.How do people keep going?

It tries to do too many things and poorly at that.

I would be very careful in working with a 1031 Exchange Qualified Intermediary that provides ("sells"0 replacement property solutions as part of their services. 

It's fine if you don't ever need to cancel, or have any damaged items to return but as soon as you do, their customer service feels nonexistent. 

Let's use an example of replacing a leaking kitchen faucet (assuming it can't be repaired):You can easily find out how much the materials are by going to the Home Depot website and picking one out.For labor we Googled, "How long does it take to replace a kitchen faucet" and this is the answer we got:AI Overview: Replacing a kitchen faucet can take 30 minutes to several hours, depending on the faucet's complexity and whether you're doing it yourself.