The electric bill came up unexpected that month7.

The real estate professional or coordinator has input and dealmaking influence, but the terms of financing are generally the key component to unlocking the transaction. 

60 day turn around, I put 90 just to allow for the unexpected. 30 day reno timeline as per my contractor.Help!

Less leverage means that the greater cash flow can more easily cover unexpected expenses without di[ping into capital reserves or personal cash, hence less stress.  

Actually, timelines are 99% of the time shattered by unexpected work and change orders constantly popping up.

There is nothing that ruins a business relationship quicker than poor communication and unexpected fees.Some PMs add a flat fee or a percentage on top of maintenance bills.

Need a new roof in a 3-5 years, you probably want to be pretty liquid (year long CD, Money Market, maybe very short term bond fund etc) for those funds.On a condo board 15 years ago, I  was once able to get us into some nice CD's a decade ago that laddered with the useful life of components.

With this option, we're wondering if it's better to offer it as a 3 bed 1.5 bath with 2 bonus rooms (which we live out of), or rework one of the rooms into an actual bedroom to make it a 4 bed.With either option, we're also wondering if it's best to have the cashflow of our current house to offset any unexpected expenses, or if we should pay extra and try to pay off our current house as soon as possible.

Judicious use of leverage (debt) when the property will still cash flow positive after debt service; when there’s enough equity left in the property to refinance if advantageous, and when sufficient reserves are held to cover vacancies, recessions, and unexpected repairs5.

There is a component of doing a cash-out refinance, but it seems the thought would just be trading one loan for another in that case for an extra ~$5k of leverage.