You can start to educate yourself on the individual components; how much does it cost to paint on a per sqft basis or what is an average kitchen remodel.  

And cost is not coming down.

The challenge with unsafe areas is (1) potentially higher cost of maintenance such as broken windows, etc. and (2) this is by no means meant to be discriminatory but anecdotally from people I've spoken to the challenging tenants tend to be at the lower price points.

https://nationalmortgageprofessional.com/news/study-reveals-....Not sure BP will allow that link to post, if not just google " 10000 saved using a broker vs direct lender" and you can find the article.On the flip side, there are some banks and credit unions that could offer products that they do not allow to be brokered.

So if I do a good analysis of the property (including all the costs) and the property generates monthly CF with a DSCR above 1.1, I would be removing a big risk because the numbers add up.

I was able to qualify for about $95k in 0% business credit cards (for 12 months), I then liquidated the cash and used a portion of that to obtain the hard money loan that covered the balance of the purchase cost.

So, we now find most areas where the cost of PM leaves but the general real estate passive investment ROI for the investor hiring property management.  

We don't believe they are stealing, but their negligence has cost us a lot of money.* Is this enough to file suit in small claims court? 

The market is slow currently and you need to check flood zones and assess insurance costs when underwriting a deal.

The two deals with friends both ended poorly with friendships ruined and tens of thousands in legal fees and court costs.