I mean what I can offer in return is an open mind, eager to learn, hard work, passion for real estate and investing, and any help to the mentor/investor with his/her business in some fashion like free labor in order to learn from that person.

You should also be able to communicate well with each other and you're operating agreement should lay our roles, responsibilities and compensation in a very detailed fashion.  

We are investors in Multifamily apartments in DFW and Houston so we pay attention to (1) 10 yr treasury & 1-month libor, (2) Uhaul migration / Extra Space storage data (3) Costar, ALN, and Yardi data -- we tend to have data on every submarket in Houston and Dallas dating back to 2017 so we watch trends like where the 1, 3, 5 mile median and average incomes have been growing (4) in-person street by street market analysis -- yeah, good ol fashion 1st person data collection, (5) Dallas and Houston local news and business news tend to signal when a new employer moves headquarters or when a major new investment is happening in an under developed part of town.

There are some cool apps out there that help like propstream, etc. but in the end some good old fashioned research is where it's at.   

They would rather have a smaller space that is decorated fashionably than grandmas house with furniture purchased new in 1968.  

In which case, if he hasn't notified his insurance company and then reports it and they are asked to investigate and/or defend him against a possible suit, he could jeopardize his entire claim to be denied for coverage as he would have failed to report the loss in a "timely" fashion, and also muddying the waters by offering money (which they would NOT want you to do, as a lot of people take that as an admission of guilt, even if that is NOT the case).It is a tight rope and while we all want to be humanitarian and sympathetic, our society has not made it easy; especially with a large proliferation of people oftentimes simply suing just to sue...that's just my .02.Regardless, I hope this can be reasonablly resolved for the OP (with little to -0- out-of-pocket on his behalf).

While "upscale vs old-fashioned" would be a subjective option, it would be great to aggregate data around a timeframe when "big items" were updated, i.e. cabinets and flooring were updated in <1 year, or roof is <3 years old, etc.

I am looking for the best way to find the facts in a timely fashion to make this decision, so if anyone has tried and true strategies or ideas, I am all ears!

If you pay market price than you will have a tough time executing out in a advantageous fashion.

If it is a non trust worthy GC you may never see that money again & in less drastic terms you simply want to pay for work as it is finished like you mentioned. 2) You can control them because the 30k will be returned to you & then you will disbursement Payment to the GC in standard fashion. 3) If the rehab costs less you do not have to pay the overage to the GC & do not loose this money.