This immediately struck me as odd as I wasn't aware of any form of compensation to the PM for any maintenance related activities, just 8% of gross rent and 1-month of rent to lease the property, per our contract.Naturally I wanted to understand the nature of this arrangement, specifically how much mark-up is being charged, so I referenced a specific sewer repair bill from 2015 that was $2,600 and asked him if he could provide the vendor invoice so I could understand how much the vendor charged and how much revenue the PM recognized.  

As a DIY’r odds are you will be a victim of fraud.  

Think about who in the family is most responsible, most reliable and how you're going to compensate them for their contribution.

You are lucky if you have 2 and can compensate the 3rd.

It's just fair for them to be compensated for Tom's research and knowledge.  

So when you pull money out, you’re actually not seeing the same 1:1 drop in your cash value bc the dividends compensate for some of that.Disadvantages:1.

The bank also wanted the church to maintain “compensating balances” in their checking account.We had an existing $650,000 mortgage secured by the property, which had been paid down to $615,000.  

From your post the contractor acted more like the developer/project manager/general and Realtor, so compensation cannot be figures as if he were doing construction only.

Capital can always be borrowed/raised as well, you just have to have a good enough of an opportunity to support the debt and compensate you for the risk. 

@Bruce WoodruffThe new rules will force more conversations about compensation and a longer interview process with agents having to show value.