I tend to price my properties a bit below the max I think I can get.

Sorry man, I know it's not funny to you, but you seem to have the faith of a priest in Christ about these people.

My name is Max.  I

So if the max is 50%, that would only leave you $300 toward housing ($1200 + $300 = $1500) and $3000 x 50% = $1500. 

But many newbies have the faith of a priest in Christ in the report they get from a housing inspector, often a housing inspector that the realtor selling them the crapstack recommends.The second stupidest thing, and it's linked to the first thing, is to go after cheap, old SFR in bad condition and believe that you don't need to have proven contractors and handymen on your team to turn a crapstack into a wonderful BRRRR opportunity.

But if you are taking cash out to recoup the rehab costs, the max is 75% LTV. 

Using cash mitigates this.Since there's potential that we've already reached the peak of the housing market, leveraging yourself to the max is probably not a statistically wise decision. 

(that is if I have have not met the Fannie/Freddie loan max)  I guess I am just looking for some advice from those who have done this successfully and frequently in the past. 

@William Collins whatever you do I’d get a priest to come in there and do an exorcism on that unit!!!

. - I'm flexible on renovations and could easily plan for a few months of reno before move-in, but my all-in max is around $140k.- For additional context, they've lived most of their lives just above the poverty line.