But obviously if you can endure the pain of managing the process yourself you can save significant money, assuming you're not on a clock.And to answer your first question, yes, you can download(purchase) plans from the Internet.  

I think you should just start looking for a new place, stop paying rent, stop paying water bill and leave.It really pains me, as a landlord myself, to hear he/she is treating you this way.  

Also, get your resume/CV looking sharp and stop by their division offices to introduce yourself.  

The game plan has just changed, now I am thinking of taking the bullet and outsourcing some renovations to save time, and ease the pain.

You know, $95 or $130, make it painful, but not to painful. 

So your agent may want 4% even if 3% is normal in your area, which honestly is the fair price IMO considering what pains in the butt typical FSBO people are (note: 'typical' and 'all' are not the same thing... but you have no way of knowing until you get into it).Frequently, the FSBO seller is also delusional about price, difficult to negotiate with, etc.If your lender is someone like me, they may simply refuse to do it all together unless there is at least one agent involved to do all the agent-ey stuff that isn't my job (and that my license does not cover), or unless you are a seasoned REI that's got a half dozen transactions under your belt (yup loyalty is a thing), or unless you ask really really nicely. 

Lurkers, I'd suggest getting them the first week in escrow, and being a pain in the butt about it if you need to be! 

Its a pain but you can bill them for the actual bill that comes in and divide it by number of units (50/50 for duplex).

@Maggie Vineyard, This kind of thing is uncommon (thank heaven) but that doesn't make it less painful for you.  

I know this is boring, but the standard advice to keep 3-6 months living expenses liquid is born out of a lot of pain from people that overextended themselves in real estate and other illiquid assets.