These investments in the area are expected to create tens of thousands of new direct and indirect jobs and further accelerate population growth and housing demand. 

But ultimately the responsibility lies in my hands.I jumped on a seesaw of risk hoping that the momentum would catapult my bank account into six figures only to find out the hard way that flipping houses isn’t as easy as I had predicted.This house was purchased for $64,000 with an expected rehab of $100k to $120k depending on how much work the dilapidated and neglected house needed.The midwest is lovely but the houses carry the weight of weather storms nearly a century old leading to more damage than a beginning investor could expect.The appraisal came in at $225k for my lender meaning our all-in cost would be around 85% of the sales price worst case.

I am assuming in this that normal cleaning was done pre-occupancy and they are excessive in their expectations.

Expect to pay a slightly higher rate and make a larger down payment than what you see on lender's websites with regard to their rates, points and LTVs.

I had a heart-to-heart with the contractor and made it clear what our expectations were and no more money (he was asking for a second payment of a three payment contract) would come his way. 

What should I expect the cost to be? 

Hi @Emily Gowen, whether you should sell comes down to what income (both cash flow and appreciation) you could realistically expect from the properties in the next X number of years vs. the amount of money you could make by selling now and either reinvesting or just sticking that cash in the S&P and collecting your 6-10% risk-free returns YoY.

End of that relationship came when owner called us and expected us to go pick up their guy, who's truck broke down, and drive him to the house - and didn't want to pay us anything for this!

It can also be an opportunity to discuss house rules and expectations to ensure you're on the same page.While being cost-conscious is understandable, investing a little upfront for proper screening can save you a lot of trouble in the long run.

Overpromising and under-delivering in terms of expectations at times.