Get three quotes if possible from three reputable contractors. 

We currently have conventional loans on both (put 5% down), but it sounds like we will likely have to explore other routes for our next one. 

I've explored short term rental options in the palm springs area but not sure that I would want this to be my first experience in the real estate business although I do have good resources where I can hit the ground running (or so I believe).

I don't feel 30k may potentially be enough for me to cover all the rehab costs, so I am exploring ways to utilize business credit. 

Both firms seem to be reputable; however, for a LLC that is just getting started, I am unsure of whether or not I should be paying high end fees for asset protection when they tell me that estate planning is what I should be focusing on first.

If you still have some gain on a 250K single situation you can explore Opportunity Zone options since that is the only possible way I know of that you might be able to retroactively exclude gain. 

If you take it yourself, you will just have a good deal and a bad reputation with investors in the area.

wholesaling you dont know anyone I would urge you to explore either being an agent or an agent on a top producer team.. your thought of retiring on cash flow while that is pert near everyone on BP s goal it is rarely achieved in reality. 

We have a decent amount of capital and a few HELOCs available to be aggressive on offers however, we keep getting beat out by all-cash offers where we are just out of reach.With that being said, we discussed exploring the option of hard money or private lending as all of our other properties we have used our own capital and conventional loans. 

I fielded estimates from other contractors, but this guy was from a reputable company with good reviews and I decided to trust him.