Another thing to note is that the land bank has a ton of cheap property but they are not worth investing in even though it may look enticing because they can be much "Cheaper" but the ROI is not there unless your a heavy cash investor with a ton of experience basically building from almost nothing.

Reason why assets are cheaper, is because there is less demand, or there is some type of issue.

Their quotes were for much higher coverage (e.g current policy is 260K on a house with market value of 275K, including ~50K land, their coverage was 340K) and cheaper (~$350 less than current premium).

That's their cheaper, more competitive arm, but has more underwriting constraints.When it comes to flips, especially the quicker ones, it's not the rate that hurts you, but the points.

What you pay with labor will depend on if for instance one of my units still has a good pad and tack and strip then I just pay for carpet and installation cost.What you will pay will also depend on how much you are installing at one time.I don't like Berber for rentals.The design of the loop once it starts unraveling it can unwind pretty good an dis harder to get certain stains and pet stuff out of it.With carpet you want a Nylon carpet even if the cheaper version.Some carpet guys will try to sell you the rubber composite carpet stuff which is the really cheap stuff so it will stand up to tenant abuse.The problem is it can only be cleaned usually up to one time and then you need to replace it again.So I would rather get a cheaper nylon that can be re-cleaned many times over after installation for an additional .10 to .15 a sq ft extra than the super cheap stuff I will have to replace again.If you get 1 sq ft for carpet,pad,tack and strip,and labor install and it is Nylon you are getting one heck of a deal.Even at a carpet place usually you are at .40 to .50 for the pad and .50 to .60 for a cheap carpet.Then you have to do material to install and labor.I have seen sometimes if you have to do a small area you can pick up quality remnant pieces for real cheap and hit that type of number or buy in bulk.

It seems crazy to pay income tax and interest on my wages,  but having myself do the construction is still cheaper than hiring another contractor. 

For the 1031 can I put it into multiple cheaper properties.

Would it be cheaper to build? 

Investing out-of-state is tough and finding a strong PM in these cheaper markets is equally difficult.

Quote from @Abdi Muya: Remember: cheaper doesn't mean you'll make more money.Start by going to www.narpm.org to search their directory of managers.