One good think that we have on our side is that my husband does part of the job himself because he’s very knowledgeable and he likes it; also, he’s really on top of workers that he hires for doing the other part of the job and we tend to get the less expensive workers out there (you really need to stay on top of them especially if you pay less then average).So this is how we manage to renovate a house with a lower budget labor then average and we have a bit more budget for quality materials and fancy details.

Does anyone have some quality books they can recommend that would align with my goals of buying cash flowing rental properties?  

They would allow covering it up which might be doable with a heavy residential or commercial wallpaper but repainting by a quality and qualified contractor would probably be too expensive. 

The main lesson we learned was work with contractor who has done a full rehab of old homes and does quality work otherwise your rehab numbers will be completely wrong.

Certain asset classes will attract certain qualities of tenants. 

Try to look up cap rate in your area as well. see if you can find in on costar. the better the quality of your property, the higher the occupancy, the lower you can push your cap rate.

With the company branded material you get less leads but better quality.

Look at a few houses on the market and study the different foundations, quality of build, etc.

WE DO NOT mark-up eviction lawyers (in fact we only go 2x a year for 200+ units and mostly for non-payment - life happens)WE DO NOT put in deadbeats or troubled tenants we will need to evict (we have to deal with them - really, life is too short)WE DO NOT advise our clients to buy in crappy neighborhoods or buy crappy buildings because they are so cheapWE DO NOT put our clients in harm's way legally because we know the legal landlord/tenant laws and what to avoidWE DO NOT take on Landlords that do not see the value we add and want to nickel and dime good quality servicesYou must have had a run in with a REALLY BAD manager to have such a skewed view of the industry.WE DO screen for 3.75% rent/debt ratios, evictions, crimes, felonies, level 3's and ALWAYS cross-check in our networkWE DO screen out landlords too because let's face it, there are some bad ones, and we don't need their business eitherWE DO market the snot out of our rentals on over 30+ apartment sitesWE DO market with pictures, videos, BLOGs, website, referral programs, word of mouth and our landlord referral networkWE DO know title-real estate-eviction lawyers, contractors, REALTORS, and have a wide network of professionals on callWE DO get discounted rates and preference on service because of the volume of work we provide our contractorWE DO have a 100% guarantee on placed tenants, if they default within 12-months, the next tenant placement is free on usWE DO frequently see the property and build relationships with the residents AND neighbors to be boots on the streetWE DO know which landlords are selling before the hit the market and give pocket listings to keep the management contractIf this ain't worth $85 bucks, let's keep going.

What I received was a high quality property with great returns.