They all rented.I pointed out that they ate out 2 nights a week, they bought lunches every day, their wives had lots of expensive clothes and had their hair and nails professionally done, they went out drinking in bars, and they owned at least two nice new cars.They never did get it.

Last update I have from the group handling the entitlement process for an 18-unit apartment development we're planning to sell to an end-builder, is the following (keep in mind we initially submitted all the docs in May): - Items are getting lost (city's dog ate their homework).

They did, in fact, underestimate one job and ate the costs instead of trying to pass it to me.I agree with @Matthew Paul about good contractors not being cheap and cheap contractor not being good. 

The Association Fees ate up my margin so just be careful the numbers work.

Pssst, inflation ate your dingo.

As it turns out, HUD ate the fees and we didn't have to pay.On a later occasion, I bought a house on the courthouse steps only to have the trustee contact me to "rewind" the sale.

Over the course of a year my wife and I fixed it up, rented to friends, ate peanut butter and jelly, did everything we could.

So, if the project came in over-budget, I ate it.

Everything had to replaced and fixed so it ate up alot of the budget Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Needless to say holding cost and overages ate my lunch.