You may pay a bit more and make a little less, but playing the long term game is key in real estate.The types of structures could be lump sum (one price) or cost plus (meaning you pay the cost of material and labor plus a flat fee—more of an open-book model).I see some investors who want to pay for ALL the materials, which is excellent for the investor (more control of finishes & cost) and general contractor (if they are getting paid well).  

Instead of spending money on education which is available for free, I would attend REI meetings, conferences organized by real estate guys radio, Joe Fairless, crowd converge, New Orleans investment conference etc to network and meet like minded individuals.

The costs of land  , engineering , site work , permits , labor , and building materials make this virtually impossible . then there are zoning issues and the rest of the politics that go along with this . 

I have 2 ground partners this year that quit there day jobs BECAUSE they do all the WORK and risked their time... both on track to make 100s of thousands this year.. and I will make 100's of thousands from the fruits of their labor... or they could just keep working were they were working and doing a deal a year or so...

When I confronted them, they defended their quote, stating that they go off the industry standard and a portion of the labor time is for "testing the system after repairs to ensure safety."

What you pay with labor will depend on if for instance one of my units still has a good pad and tack and strip then I just pay for carpet and installation cost.What you will pay will also depend on how much you are installing at one time.I don't like Berber for rentals.The design of the loop once it starts unraveling it can unwind pretty good an dis harder to get certain stains and pet stuff out of it.With carpet you want a Nylon carpet even if the cheaper version.Some carpet guys will try to sell you the rubber composite carpet stuff which is the really cheap stuff so it will stand up to tenant abuse.The problem is it can only be cleaned usually up to one time and then you need to replace it again.So I would rather get a cheaper nylon that can be re-cleaned many times over after installation for an additional .10 to .15 a sq ft extra than the super cheap stuff I will have to replace again.If you get 1 sq ft for carpet,pad,tack and strip,and labor install and it is Nylon you are getting one heck of a deal.Even at a carpet place usually you are at .40 to .50 for the pad and .50 to .60 for a cheap carpet.Then you have to do material to install and labor.I have seen sometimes if you have to do a small area you can pick up quality remnant pieces for real cheap and hit that type of number or buy in bulk.

I agree with  Mark, for the baltmore area Zeskinds, Castle, Joe Bossilina, and the rest from Lowes or Home Depot.

So, of course greed, but also inflation, and labor rates, and all new costs associated with the COGS for any product is passed down to the consumer/borrower.Most of these loans are securitized so the payment streams are actually not theirs but the capital partners of the lenders that buy the packaged notes. 

As you know, material, labor, and supplies for roofing can change a lot within a matter of weeks / months. 

I bought my first rehab and didnt have cash for labor, so I decided to do everything myself without on hands construction experience.