I tell people NEVER to pay advance fees with the exception of an appraisal.

With that being said I'd rather not do the latter two and find a lender that will be ok with me paying fees and interest out of pocket.

@Doug Rich, @Justin Mespelt, what I forgot to mention was that we were also offering to pay any appraiser an additional $1,000 on top of their normal fee in order to get our appraisal done.

Our last project is on the first page of Google for "houses for rent" in the particular city, generating ~10k leads per month, with a strong conversion rate where the lead fills out a lengthy application and pays an application fee. 

Building was built in the 1960s I believe and has a ground lease (causing the HOA fees to be very high).  

So when I look at any property I am only interested in net yield.Which is rental income less vacancy, management fees, taxes, insurance and maintenance.  

Your posts were hidden from view when I arrived. 

Wife and I are moving to Asheville by 11/1 and looking to start searching for hidden gems.

On Google I see a general price of 1.50 sq ft. to build a house, How much of this is management fees and labor?

Once I received CASH $35 app fee I asked them for previous LL info.