Hi Jason,Just some random thoughts on this to bring your knowledge up a little.Everyone is different in how they do this--sometimes the lender will dictate certain amounts for certain things.Some people ride motorcycles without a helmet, some always wear seat belts.It also depends on how deep you pockets are, a Policeman owning the same SFH as a Brain Surgeon might want to have more set aside just in case.Some make a CAPEX, list for their guesstimates of CAPEX outlays based on the HUD guidelines in years of service life remaining for each item.But in (for instance) areas of high winds, things like roofing replacements and insurance reimbursements complicate this.You need to budget for turn cost, and wear and tear also, (re: wear and tear; carpet physically wears out over time, vs. renter spilling red paint on it--where you would charge that to the renters security deposit).The costs in the future will either come from the renter or come from YOU, vacancies, wear and tear, equipment failures, etc...The ones that will come from you, need to be budgeted for--unless you have deep pockets and the amounts seem frivolous to your expendable income and you believe you can just cover them easily.Some people can afford to buy their secretary a new car for her birthday, some have their families huddling around the table eating one can of cold beans for dinner--Ole' one can of beans might not be able to meet the financial needs of CAPEX when it comes due unless he sets it all aside ahead of time.Good Luck!

How much effort are YOU expending during the flip, and what hourly rate do you deserve?

A lot of opportunity to renovate existing property expend and go up a level, to build a 3,100 sq ft home.

Peter has actually said this before but I am going to reiterate: with this class of tenants, there is NO expendable income, so it's not like they are trading something for the other, if they get laid off or get sick or (name any inconvenience), you're not getting rent that month.I have bought quite a few rentals in decent areas with very poor tenants renting for well below market rents, and it has become a moral and ethical struggle for us.  

I wouldn't be excited to expend too much energy for the reasons that were stated above.If I was mildly interested, I might go to the county recorders office & run title myself.

i moved to los angeles county fairly recently from nyc however my heart is forever in asia, my mom's ancestors' homeland. well my dad's a caribbean islander of mostly native amerindian descent but i find the caribbean is heavily europeanized, even with the afro & latino majorities. so, i tend to vacay and expend humanitarian efforts moreso in asia than here in the 'new world'.so if i could move anywhere within USA it would have to be even more 'West'ward til proximal to the Far East - HAWAII, GUAM AND OR MICRONESIA(!)

Section 1105.003(f), Occupations Code, is amended to read as follows: (f) Not later than August 31 of each fiscal year, the agency shall remit [$750,000] to the general revenue fund the sum of $750,000 minus amounts expended each fiscal year to construct or maintain a building in the Capitol Complex, including for repayment of a construction loan.

High dollars for effort expended.  

In addition to $500k how much time do you think you expended?

I just bought a three family this year, and haven't been able to rent it since COVID, so i decided to gut renovate all three units which is expending ALL of my free time outside of my 40 hour work week as an engineer.