As I finish planning my goals for 2015, I'm filled with such a sense of optimism and excitement for the year to come.  

If you do that and want to get deeper in the future, you can dive in to Kelly criterion for optimal growth rates.  

I can see how a total newbie would think they found value in the 3 day seminar from FB - after all, they give you a glimpse of asset protection, tax optimization, corporate structure, macroeconomics, money supply, stocks, IRA, 401K's, biographies of rich and famous, etc. 

That is indeed a whole different topic and tax optimization is generally very high on my agenda.

I love the free market and what will be will be, but its a brutal place, particular with how much optimism is built into the MF space these days, and I hope all the folks who left other careers to pursue this can weather the next market shift and the unhappy investors that come along with it.

If you've got a slamming deal and solid track record (f. ex my guys that did a bunch of Fannie loans for deals first), take it to Lima One to be rewarded with optimal terms and conditions that reflect the safety of the great deal you have and your track record of success. 

However this takes the investor/buyer out of the tenant selection process and exactly as you say the urgency from the TK provider ( capital costs) TK Broker  ( I want my FEE) and you end up with less than optimal situation when it comes to the tenant placement..  

It is quite possible to optimize around your concerns by considering a "Servicer" or" Super" .

It's provides a nice conceptual and practical framework for determining the scheduling components of flips, including an optimal ordering of the work; factoring in and planning for dependencies (when the HVAC is getting upgraded, the electrical has to be on and often the gas, etc., so planning around those; with enough dependencies, it could be easy to overlook a few of them at first, although the example above may not be the best); an anticipated timeframe for each of various tasks (he divides the property into 25 very handy and well-organized components, and covers them one at a time as well as how to view it in the larger scope of a rehab), and more.

Every market is different in how a home is optimally marketed.