I avoid Chinese drywall homes because it has a stigma attached to it even if the property was remediated.  

if this is your first flip I would avoid HML until you get more experienceIf you have the money to buy the house just work you butt off fixing the house from the money you make on your day jobGood luck @Lawrence Lloyd paclob

And you'll never have to cold call, which most agents avoid like the plague if they can help it.

1. How do I ensure a contractor doesnt go over budget or time? It seems like this is a recurring gag and is almost considered unavoidable amongst some homeowners. If I want to flip, this is the last thing I want. This...

You completely avoided my questions.  1. 

I know that the IRS gets picky about using single member LLC's to avoid taxes.

Note investors often prefer to end up with cash flow on notes and avoid the problems of dealing with toilets and tenants that landlords have.

With that experience, I have gotten pretty good at avoiding evictions and bad tenants.

Using all cash I avoid a lot of closing costs and then absorb the refinance cost into the loan.

Most of the foolish beginner's pitfalls and potholes could be avoided by learning from someone who has already made those mistakes, learned from them, and moved on to success.If you have spent any amount of time here on BP you will have come across numerous posts from investors who blast the novice entrepreneur for clogging up the market with bad deals, or more concerning to me, accidentally break the law and risk major issues.