The best way to learn rehab cost is to find a guy at reia or recommended who does work and offer him a little money to walk a property with you, point out the problems and "common pricing" for these items, thats not the time to ask can I get it done cheaper, you want to be able to look at a house and throw a rehab cost in 20-30 mins or less, so you will get common ball park pricing for items.

The houses around them just aren't worth it and cheaper houses. 

Construction costs and material costs are cheaper because you are selling a 250k house to a first time buyer, not a 800k house in Poet's Corner.

An investor needing to execute a 1031 Exchange may be more than willing to take a neutral or even slightly negative cash flow and bank on appreciation and rent escalation, because it's cheaper than paying capital gains.  

I also find that some local print shops are cheaper than online services. 

Osaka, while relatively cheaper, has massive competition.

Apartments (100+ units):Pros:single locationsingle transactioneconomies of scale (painting 100 units is cheaper than painting 100 houses)professional managementhigher capital gains due to forced appreciationcan be a truly passive investmentCons:higher turnoverhigher maintenance expenseslower COC returnssmaller pool of potential buyersHouses:Pros:lower barrier to entrylower turnoverlower maintenance expensesno need for professional management on a smaller portfolio (less than 20)higher COC returnsbigger pool of potential buyersCons:multiple transactionsmultiple locationshigher per unit repair costslack of forced appreciation beyond initial equity capture (ARV - purchase price - rehab)professional management is more expensive than for apartmentssemi-passive

So I decided to make some phone calls to get estimates on the repairs and I find a guy that can do the repairs for over $1000 cheaper than Bob's estimate and I agree to have this maintenance man John do the repairs because it's a lot cheaper than Bob's estimate.Meanwhile, without the property owner's consent or even letting the property manager aware (because later he admits that it's a surprise) Bob decides to rent out Diploma Ave. to another tenant.

That's cheaper than Houston for new construction but if you already have the roof and foundation that helps.I don't want to pay full price or use all of my cash so need financing.

I am new like you and have started in the mobile home side of things because the out of pocket is cheaper.