The outfit we use are nice guys that we know that have always done a good job for us (mostly small patch jobs), but they are pricey. 

I partly asked this question because as chance would have it the last few outfits that I reached out to haven't been very responsive.Having crawled around a bit up there since I posted my original question, I have to admit that that quote now seems a bit less outrageous.

Not small outfits, but larger nationwide ones.On the downside--when TSHTF in the economy, they are eating Ramen for three meals a day.

Investors don't need the fancy outfits, with a fancy website, that caters to primary-home-owners.

They can have a significant start up cost to furnish, outfit, etc.

Beds, furniture, kitchen outfitting, etc.  

It's far superior to private or hard money should you need short-term money for a flip, for outfitting a new STR, etc.

No it was not for sale, it was part of an area drive to get to know that area (boots on the ground).Drive it, stop in and talk to the mangers, rental agents, maintenance a little, act like a potential renter.It's owned by a BIg Name in the business, and they run it HARD and MEAN...and accept some pretty low quality renters compared to the rest of the area.I think they are shooting themselves in the foot running it like this, but I have seen a couple other of their operations run similar.I think because they are so big, some of their places don't get the best business plan, like they would if a smaller outfit owned it.

When outfitting the house, I build out a great kitchen with tons of options.

First time looking to pivot into multi from SFR.Came across an outfit that said they are off-loading their portfolio, to move into bigger deals.