I estimated this to cost me $300,000 to scale.

Deduct NEW property taxes after you buyDeduct home insurance costsDeduct maintenance percentage, typically 10%Deduct vacancy+tenant nonperformance percentage(we recommend 5% for Class A, 10% Class B, 20% Class C, good luck with Class D)Deduct whatever dollar/percentage of cashflow you wantNow, what you have left over is the amount for debt service.Enter it into a mortgage calculator, with current interest rate for an investment property, to determine your maximum mortgage amount.Divide the mortgage amount by either 75% or 80%, depending on the required down payment percentage - this is your tentative price to offer.If the property needs repairs, you'll want to deduct 110%-120% of the estimated repairs from this amount.Be sure to also research the ARV and make sure it's 10-20% higher than your tentative purchase price.As long as the ARV checks out, this is the purchase price to offer.It is probably significantly below the asking price.

It depends on non-SEC 8 market rents for similar properties, the utility estimate for your property, and the tenant's income.

Fair enough, I have partial ownership of a commercial (apartment) building in the Bay Area and I would estimate it as a Class A- to maybe Class B - great location, great tenants, nice amenities (not high end like gym, new pool, community room with big screen TVs, etc), high rents, but building is older (built in 1950s).One investor I saw post that they look at where Starbucks and Costcos are opening and possibly factor that into looking at different markets.

My biggest two cents is no one should flip unless they are the best at estimating ARV in their room--better than the appraiser, agent, lender--when that happens, your deals will fall into line. 

Neither outcome is good for you.I give some approximations of each expense category in The Hands-Off Investor, but the best way to nail down operating costs is to look at the property's historical performance.For example, Contract Services and Utilities. 

But then he said they had to have a contractor’s estimate on the Indiana house and the money would be doled out as things were completed, so could not be used in Spokane.

Quote from @Roger Garner:Multiple estimates and get some photos of their work too.

You can use Airdna & other STR estimator tools to get data on potential income/vacancy based on your location and property size. 

If it would help to get a more detailed estimate feel free to reach out.Documentation is rather limited, just ID, bank statement, LLC documents to start.Sometimes there are interest-only options at 30 and 40 years, generally the difference in payment fully amortized over I/O is minimal so it may not be worth it.