Some contractors have insurance, some are 1 man band with no overhead, quality of work factors into cost, level of finishes.We created a calculator for our clients to use here in Chicago, specific to our renovation pricing, but even that is just a guess based on some assumptions.If you can find a quality general contractor, pay them like @Bruce Woodruff mentioned, and it will make your life so much easier...you may eat into some of your profits, but being able to rinse and repeat with someone you trust is priceless!

This is not working for the utilities are eating up the rental income (in addition to the mortgage).

(I eating everything on this site tho)

If you ultimately take the property the extra years of taxes that accrue can eat into your profits or even cause you to have a loss. 

I like the functionality a lot but it seems that once a month there's a new bug to contend with that's eating into my time.

Stop going out to eat, make as few trips to pay less gas, cut expenses drastically.

Looks like the Rockies are eating theirs in 2023. 

Even if you sell at exactly the same price you paid, costs will eat up half of my down payment.Maybe you can find someone willing to give you the money on these terms. 

Baking your own bread is not free, because you had to buy eggs.

Unfortunately, there are a few bad eggs who take extreme advantage of people which inevitably causes these issues.