And yes that $1200 a year will be a large help to the business model. 

Through research and learning, I compiled a list of criteria for selecting a market, as well as a list of markets, largely based on this article.

The submeters are less than $100 and the gateway which can control a large number of submeters is $1000.

A bigger higher-budget situation might be very different.Not sure if this is geared towards a big enough scale you're thinking of, but might help with some considerations-https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2014/05/3...Hope that helps!

The Dayton/Cincinnati, Ohio area (where I live) is considered home for many large corporations (in several different industries).

Just my opinion, but personally i wouldn't. taking money out of 401Ks and IRAs other than qualified reasons you get large penalty fees on it. 

I signed a contract at the beginning with a GC that was more general than I wanted considering the large price tag, but he kept saying that he couldn't make it more specific until they busted up the concrete to see what was really going on (lots of unknowns due to age and character of building).

His cash flow justifies all that but obviously you need the scale to accomplish this. 

I don't remember all the specifics, but he was basically using 5-10 Bedroom (Large SFR) as Assisted Living businesses.    

That way you have some money coming in at all times.If you had a contractor that had a large enough crew and gave you a discount for doing both units quickly and at same time then it would be worth wild to just get them both turned around as fast as possible and rented at market rents.I self manage all my properties.