So I did a flip with a contractor/partner and we had a budget for the rehab at 80K and he brought me a bunch of receipts with no PO regarding our subject property and is claiming that we went $40,000 over budget.

I think the WYZE wireless will be a good interim budget solution but I don't think it will prevent loss of property or alleviate the concern without the accompanying lock on the basement door. 

How much would you budget for architectural and engineering for a new build 5000sf 2 tenant retail building?

With older homes, you need to have larger CapX budgets in order to account for the larger number of items that will need fixing.

I could give more accurate insights if I knew ballpark budget, if it's for yourself or to rent out, etc. 

I typically budget 7% and move it up/down as needed.

Also always get a refi loan estimate, we could have likely refinanced out of the hard money loan with a cheaper long term loan and held on to it as a buy and hold even though budget went way over.

Made enough to put it back into next deal which was awfully mis-budgeted.

Made enough to put it back into next deal which was awfully mis-budgeted.

Get rid of debt, build a budget, and save.