@Troy Jones Even though it sounds like it may be tougher to find a deal in the market you ideally want to operate in, I would recommend taking the extra time & effort to find a deal in a location/market you are comfortable operating in. 

As a new investor you have to be extra vigilant in your due diligence of the markets, the team you are considering, and the particular properties. 

Initially I paid the 1250 then I had to pay an extra $200 contract fee then after paying the $200 attorney free, and he requested a final fee of $400.  

In fact, the difficulty in responding to your question about whether your costs are reasonable stems from the fact that I have no idea what specific materials or cost of materials you are using. 

I think I might get my real estate license and sell some houses on the side to bring in some extra income so I can get into the game for myself.Looks like that might be my best option for getting the capital needed to move forward.

@Steven Young, I have attended an auction (Dekalb county) and what I could realize is: As it is a redeemable deed State You gonna buy the property and only will be able to gain possession of it after a year (redeemable period) - also going to take some extra days to deal with the foreclosure process.

They've also took an extra month to remove a delinquent tenant because the Virtual Assistant "felt bad" for having to not renew a family, even though they weren't paying all the rent.Instead of insulating the owner against any management issues, they're basically forcing me to manage the situation--which defeats the point of Property Management.Thus, I'm paying the same amount of 10% management fee for a service that's gone severely downhill.Am thinking about switching.Question:Anyone have any recommendations on who I might talk to for managing SFHs in the Cordova/Germantown area?

The master bathroom is still down to the studs and we currently don’t have any extra funds to throw towards it.

Even properties that are usually $40k-$50k will usually require some extra capital for repairs (as well as closing costs).

An investment like that can typically yield 6-8% passive cash flow per year, with large returns in 5-7 years when the asset is sold (typically about 8-10% extra per year, paid at refinance or sale of the property).