We hired another contractor (a church friend of a realtor that we'd used in the past and we trust this realtor 100%) and paid him $15,000 to start the same project and everything went great; he completed demolition, installed the new roof, and got some permits (roof permit, electrical, and plumbing).

It was the roofing scams combined with no cap on attorney fees for small claims. 

Make sure your first property has no long-term cap ex coming like roofs, furnaces, sewer, etc so you know you won't get a 10k bill when you buy another one and lose profit on all across the board.

I already met some new contractorswho said can finish the work within the $60K budget, however, they didmentioned some things the contactor did wrong with our house that they wouldhave to fix (leak in our roof from our chimney, new gate hinges because they put the wrong ones on there and other small things).

He flew a drone and saw that there was more roof work than I felt comfortable taking on, ontop of some code violations in one of the units and exposed knob and tube wiring in the attic space.  

Actually the comps say $600k but I don't think I could get that as it will need a new roof soon and there is asbestos siding that is still in good shape, but it is still a liability) I am still in the home until my youngest graduates in three years, but she is the only one left and when she is not with me (50% of the time) I am at what will be our forever home in NH. 

You can save that amount or more simply by designing and specifying the right foundation, exterior facade assembly and/or roof system.

“If corporate feels they can make more money if they can get that person out and get somebody new in there, they can,” Torres said.Eviction by golf cartAt the Cyprus Apartments complex, with rows of tile-roofed buildings and more than 500 units, evictions were conducted under the shade of a golf cart as the temperature crept to 109 degrees.April Cordova, the property’s manager, surveyed the damage at an already empty unit.

Your going to need to show proof of rent payments and/or short term rental income.If your buying a primary 2nd home and intending to use it as an investment property I would strongly refrain from that activity; especially if your posting about it in a public forum ;).Best of luck.

Building your own excel model & just combing Zillow in whatever market you're looking to purchase/running the numbers and finding accurate comps is a great way to start.In this market, you're going to need to look at a lot of properties before you find one worth it (largely due to low inventory & high mortgage rates).