Quote from @Mike Levene: contractors should give exact quotes, come in give you a full detailed list of how much it will be to cost for labor and materials broken down.

Get something durable in a color that does not stain easy and a material that can be scotchguarded and you will be good for several years.

*Renovation Costs – Includes labor, materials, permits, and unexpected repairs*Holding Costs — Utilities, property taxes, and financing costs during the renovation time.

Pretend your getting the hardest rain you have ever seen and imagine where the water is going.I would also keep an eye out for sewer lines and type of material.

Hi Syman, BRRRR Invest Academy is not affiliated with Bigger Pockets and I don't believe anyone owns the rights to BRRRR acronym, but I think Brandon Turner made it famous.I'm in the program and the gold mine is in the network of other investors and the constant action from Nate and Jiries to continue teaching beyond what is in the course material. 

Biggest things you’ll want your cpa to guide you through;Material participation- there’s three tests; 500 hours; 100 hours and more than anyone else’s time, and substantially all the activity.

@Scott Trench - have you considered investing in short term rentals, materially participating, and having the average stay be less than 7 days?

Never built in Houston before so take my feedback with a grain of salt but I'd put money on it being impossible to build a duplex from scratch for $125 a foot (including everything from drawings, engineering, permit fees, general conditions, labor, material, landscaping).Out here in AZ the builder cost is going to be $200 a foot at best, but add 20% on top of that for the client cost.

If you continue using it as a rental but reduce STR activity below the material participation threshold, your deductions may become passive and subject to loss limitations.2.

It could be anything... a mistake in estimating, a cost overrun, or something like the place burns down and the insurance wasn't properly taken out, or theft (of the money outright) or theft of materials along the way.