Eric, thanks for providing your input; the fact that you were a professor adds to the value of your statement.  

In early Dec I offered to a few (4 or 5) newbies to provide financials and show them the last of the work. 

Of those two, I actually like the first one better because you have a competitive advantage to that market and the amenities you could provide.

If we can complete projects faster, we increase IRR and build trust.3) Market Risk- The longer it takes to complete a project, the more exposed you are to market fluctuations.This goes for all things Real Estate - BRRRRs, Flips, New Builds, Rehabs, etc.Real Estate is a wild ride I feel your pain, I've had this happen many times where the project is twice as long.

Specialty is in foreign national financing so I'd be happy to provide insight and run some numbers for you once you've narrowed down your options.

.#4 - Have someone local that you trust, go over zoom and get to ask them question.

And then monthly by check or if you don’t trust them certified funds or EFT. 

So, they can markup what they paid out and keep the difference.Most PMC industry software has these two options built in.So, it's just a matter of understanding how your PMC is marking up maintenance and not expecting it to be for free.Regarding the specific charges you mentioned - there has to be some level of trust with your PMC. 

Even if the rental has a decent cash flow with additional flood insurance, we're still not sure we want to take on that risk as we are out-of-state investors (planning to move back to KY in the future, but not now) and we don't like that it will potentially bring down the perceived value when we try to sell it in the future.The seller has never lived there and has not provided any information on if it has flooded before or not. 

That's great that he travels so much but ask him to provide where he rented and where he slept during that time.