I've been looking at comparable properties nearby and the median is in the low 2k range I'm thinking mine may go a little higher since it's a corner property with a lot of light but really looking to see if the conversion would make sense financially because I've been reading those articles about the costs being exorbitant. 

You can also take out a 2nd loan on the home is the 1st is super low and still pay off debts.

i would get #s from a FEW as you're getting started, to see who knows their stuff. if ARV could be as low as 90k you'd pretty much have to get it for free. deals like this sometimes work creatively though. if they're open to seller financing. and you can wholesale creative deals. 

To be fair, plenty of part time agents with a low skill set are selling plenty of homes. 

- Based on your experience, what should we expect for maintenance expenses? 

But I’ve only had a handful of profitable months, most of the time I’ve been paying either the mortgage myself or unexpected cleaning & maintenance bills, and my savings has run to zero, so it’s a big loss so far.

We will be selling one high equity house with low cash flow, and transitioning into high cash flow houses in an area where we already own houses.  

Check the appraisal if they noted it as "Deferred Maintenance" - most DSCR Lenders will require the property to be fully turnkey and either $0 or up to a very small amount, like $2k deferred maintenance noted

They’ll advertise early and have turned it over in days before when it’s just cleaning and minor maintenance, but they don’t show until vacant so we plan on at least a month.

For example, if you go with option 1, you might not be as concerned with low occupancy, because you'll be able to go there whenever you want!