It reflects well with lenders, from what we are being told.

I’m sure while I reflect on this I’ll have done additional thoughts or questions - this has given me lots to consider!

First off, before I give a short and long answer, I'll echo what others have already said: FMRs for your area may or may not reflect what you can actually rent your place for.

But, on a property I am considering putting an offer on, I would significantly rehab it (to take advantage of a higher ARV and to BRRRR it once the rehab is complete), so I lowered my expenses to reflect that I should have lesser capex/maintenance with the property.  

Rules of thumb are a very lazy way to do business.You can build a generic pro forma and plug every applicable number in, take five minutes, and come up with a reliable look at your future CoC, CoC including principal repayment, IRR, etc.Build your pro forma to reflect the base case and then the pro forma case.

@Justin Hayden I think this is a question that you and your wife should reflect on together, although I think you are doing the right thing by gathering opinions.

For those of you who charge your rehab expenses for flips directly to COGS, how do you handle item returns to ensure they are appropriately reflected on the Expenses screen?

Along the way make sure you're building your credibility book that reflects the work you're doing and clearly shows the results (aka expectations for your future investors). 

In my market, contractors are in great demand and their prices reflect that. 

Hi Steve,Life is a reflection of us.