Good luck Thanks Dan  Yes  we are not selling for the reasons you mentioned and yes we are talking 7 figures of appreciation .

Rates are not going down and something like that we would not do, we would go 24 months max and would be 12%+. so 10% is good YUP that is a smokin deal for private money for 5 years.. now the OP does not mention points if any..

My contractor mentioned he might've left them since he felt bad about up and leaving the job. 

Not to mention sky-high drama factor.

There are reputable companies out there, however, but I would shy away from any company that mentions turn-key.Long story short, real estate is very forgiving over time and these properties cash flow well and I was able to build a great team for future deals. 

Like Thomas mentioned, leveraging your personal residence carries higher risk.

Maryland’s DLLR site you mentioned is definitely a step in the right direction.

There is so much that goes in a business, rental rates, rental tax, inventory,  job costing, payroll, business analytic reports etc, QiuickBooks does handle what I have mentioned here. 

Lets say you needed $100k in financing at 12% + 2 points and it took you a year to rehab and refinance that is an extra $14k + closing costs.2. you mention roof is 18-20k.

@Federico Dallo you mentioning vacation-type locations leads me to guess that you may want to use the property yourself occassionlly?