. - Fortunately, our transparent systems allowed the owner to catch it:)- Full transparency - we would have never caught this honest mistake:(An owner also needs to be involved to approve & fund large expenses: maintenance, property tax & insurance payments (if they want to be more hands off), evictions, etc.A great PMC should also have a chat with you annually about your future plans for a property and your portfolio. 

Fortunately generous Covid Appreciation made it all ok some time later and I’ve since found a pitbull of a building inspector that I won’t do a deal without.

Fortunately it was a location with a PSF of ~$1.5k, so I added more than $100k of valuation (suspect I may not have quite achieved my $2 added for every $1 spent).But the bigger issue I see, if I add $200k of equity at hopefully a cost of no more than $100k it seems like maybe a good brrrr but what if it has expenses on a sustained hold that results in negative $1k/month?  

I had moved away from flipping for several years, but my life circumstances have changed and, fortunately, real estate provides endless opportunities to pivot when needed.

When I have some free time, I'll research other options that won't cost a fortune for the small guy.

I was fortunate enough to hit financial independence/early retirement a year ago at 42 with a family to support.

I was fortunate enough to live in Detroit for several years, so I was able to establish a network before moving back to California.

Several people that pitched me on real estate partnerships & syndication over the last decade are now broke, in prison or being sued.Growth Equity in Chicago is one & fortunately like with Steve Down I steered clear of them!

Fortunately my value is up about $1m above cost, so the poor cash flow is a mild inconvenience.  

I find that putting a utility cap in the lease agreement they sign and calling their attention to it really helps make them more aware that they'll have to pay for excess usage so, fortunately, I haven't had to actually bill anyone yet, but the language is there if I needed to.