He, the hubby, also runs a landscape/lawn service and was able to build upon that business by incorporating the dump truck to haul gravel, mulch etc.

Our landlords even dug up and mulched over our grassy lawn, wildflowers, and garden which we eat from daily in order to make the yard look "neat" for potential buyers.

I've never seen them artificially bid up a property that I've also have clients bid on, so I'm not sure about that.  4)  Usually it takes a few days. 

Personally I'm not a huge fan of the FundRise marketing/structure because of the way they artificially inflate returns in the 1st 2 years by diluting investor returns later.

It seems totally artificial and I don't understand how people aren't recognizing this.

Those costs include your financing; mortgage or interest only(for hard money), taxes, insurance, utilities, lawn care, misc. 

She asked him why he was doing that, as we had a lawn service coming by the next day, and he mentioned the city had come by and asked him if he could tell us the grass needed to be cut to avoid a citation.

Unless they were using it to mow the lawn at the property, and then put the lawnmower back? 

The deck looks great.So pulling my estimates from my first post and adding in my actual numbers:Purchase Price: $115,000 $110,000Down payment 25%: $28,750 $27,500Closing costs: $5,000 $2021.45Mortgage: 4.5% 4.125% for 30 years = $437/mo $399/moEstimated renovations: $15,000Estimated Monthly Revenue: $550/unit = $2,200/moEstimated Management (10%): $220/moProperty Taxes: $165/mo $163/moInsurance: $160/mo $235/moEstimated Maintenance (10%): $220/moEstimated Lawn care: $150/moEstimated Vacancy rate 10%: $220/mo (estimated high)Income - Expenses = $628/mo $593/moSo that is $7,536 $7116 cash flow annually with an estimated $48,750 $44,521 cash outlay means 15.4% 15.98% cash ROISo my estimated ROI so far even with the changes is about the same.  

This makes for significant lawn work that renters won't likely keep up with, though I have considered paying for it to be done should we move out.