Of course I may be biased ;) and for some people, the hands-on stuff really is a labor of love.

Helen seems to have much more to do with a whole town of attractions, restaurants, etc, and a huge weekend for Octoberfest, plus all the other weekends like Labor day and memorial day would be pretty great rentals.

.  The reimbursement is limited to the cost of materials or the cost of properly documented contract labor (sweat equity may not be reimbursed). )So if the ARV is  $120,000 , does this mean that you can ONLY borrow a MAX of $12,000  ( 10% of the  $120,000 ARV ) to use for the Materials to repair and renovate the Property..... and you do the Work yourself ....aka FREE Sweat Equity on your part ? 

I think that it probably costs roughly the same amount for materials, appliances, etc here in Denver as it does in Cleveland, while labor might be about 25% more expensive.

If possible purchase the materials yourself and just use the contractor for the labor.  

I second Joe ^ ...

This make it very hard to get an idea of actual labor and rehab costs prior to closing a deal. 

@Bill Pate, I agree with what @Joe Splitrock said in response.

Here in Denver, many of those companies have left and the larger tax departments that would hire someone with my skill set are gone via merger and relocated to an area where labor is cheaper.  

What I'm worried about with the cash for keys offer is that it would cost me more time and money then the 4k to pay for the dump, labor, and fuel to clean the place up.