We are a group of investors with deep pockets and a saturated local market (Utah is after all the capital of Real Estate coaching).

Your buddy hired a pretender, so they got a bad quote.A quality PM has a deep bench of honest, proven contractors.

Do that in your post and ask what are you missing before deep diving and looking for numbers or marketing analysis.  

The issue today is buying at a deep enough discount to be able to hit that refi hurdle. 

On patio space - there’s a deck across the front of the house that’s not more than 8 feet deep and not particularly useful for anything but maybe a bistro set or a pair of chairs.

Thinner margins are a reflection of overall market conditions so you need to dig deep into the assumptions to understand the risk being taken to deliver those numbers.

"Deep Dish" on that? 

You could sister it and/or dig & pour 24" deep concrete pads in the floor to support additional jackposts. 

Larger dogs are more likely to dig or chew, but some smaller breeds are more likely to relieve themselves indoors.Do your research and you can get an idea of what pets are best suited for a rental.

Do a deep dive in there to look for high net worth individualsGood LuckGino