I have no issue hiring a real estate agent but our goal is to profit as much as possible obviously to use some equity toward a new home purchase and for property investment.

A local title company will do all the research for you and give you a print out of all of the title activity and what it means.Depending on the type of transaction and where you are in the decision making process, hiring a title search can be a much less risky route.

Were you selective enough in who you were hiring?

I'm not looking for someone to hire me, just looking for information that seems to be near impossible to get.

They will serve a purpose for you one day again in the future, perhaps, but the experience you will be getting by self-managing should give you a lot of insight on how to hire and manage a PM to your satisfaction.

You mentioned two types of sound, air borne (dog bark) and structural (running water in pipes).

Rehabing a fixer upper with 3 apartments in Ontario may cost 150K if you hire a contractor to do the whole work and management, including all electrical and plumbing.I can do a Rehab for around 35K if I don't need to redo all electrical and plumbing (3 brand new kitchens and baths), but I have to hire contractors by the hour, be there every day and tell them what to do and not to do.You also have to know what the tenants like or not and what they are willing to accept.Filipe

Money Mustache and simultaneously from a Google search for "50% rule".I'm a contractor by day (current focus is insulation/air sealing and mechanical systems), but my goal is to be financially independent by 2017 at the latest.

I lent money to a rehabber once, title was in his personal family trust, a IRS lien attached and I had to foreclose to remove the lien.

The acquired building were over 100 years newer and had more modern/desirable features like central air conditioning, integral garages, and fireplaces.Another time I 1031ed property in a distant town for property much closer at hand and easier to manage, it also commanded higher rents.