It cost a couple grand for a small apartment.

Coastal areas like the Costa del Sol, Barcelona, and Ibiza tend to be popular with tourists and can offer good rental income.Please feel free to send me a PM if you want me to take a look at a property with you. 

To retrofit the water line would cost a couple thousand.

I used to put carpet in my rentals but that only lasts 5 - 7 years on average: I estimate that I can get 10-12 years out of a laminate solution for about the same cost as the carpet.

I was hoping it would cost a few hundred bucks.

The ACH transactions cost a few dollars which I pay.

Forgot to say, in Fl anyway, having an attorney prepare a Warranty Deed is essentially the same cost as a QCD.

He may very well value you more than he is currently paying you but is simply trying to keep you for as low cost as possible.

Again, what he brings to the table is helping me determine if a project is financially feasible and giving him an interest in getting the work done well, promptly, and as low cost as possible, and that last one is where the issue of conflict of interest comes in.Wait...he doesn't have experience flipping houses (based on everything else you've said), yet he has a production company willing to pay him up to $40K on each rehab?

As the OP mentioned, 50 cents per AVM sounds about right.If you're worried about cost (as most of my customers tell me as well), here's something to think about.