Moving on was tough, but helping him make peace with that was main part of the negotiation process no one else touched on.

It's been a tough market for high or maybe any cashflow with decent A/B properties in some parts of Houston, BUT the long-term equity growth is what makes these type of investments very positive in the long-run!

Overall I think nationwide it’s getting very tough to get into the STR space and make money and the fact that a municipality can tank your business at any time calls for a strong back up plan from the start!

And the reason why your "tale of two halves" will play out as you described.Demand:  This has actually been high almost all along, but rent growth hasn't materialized in response due to high levels of new supply. 

Price out as much as you can in terms of materials and estimates.

As others have stated, your fit & finish goals should be guided by whether you plan to:1) Rent: tenants don't always take care of a property, so you want to use lower-grade materials and workmanship.2) Flip: higher quality on workmanship and materials is usually required.Regardless, you always want to "Maintain to the Neighborhood".

@Helena Goyvaerts it will be tough without 2+ years of USA tax returns showing you are profitable.Higher interest rates have negatively affected most lenders and many of them are getting more aggressive with offering more flexible programs. 

Quote from @Joshua Piche: Your market is tough, but it's not impossible.

Flipping is a really tough business.

However, for building materials, we get 99% of them from the four mentioned!