Companies like Starbucks, Whole Foods and Trader Joes are chains that DO NOT franchise out, and so they have internal teams doing diligence, market metrics based on income and family size, and tend to pick good soil for their stores. 

Bear in mind, specifically as an Agent, the PM also has an obligation to be honest and fair in ALL relationships.

@Justin Holwell I have SFR rental properties in Cypress and Bear Creek, suburban areas NW of downtown.

That 1.72% is probably an industry wide loss ratio which has no bearing on your operations, unless you factor in the probability of you being in that group.

Lately we have had some extenuating circumstances which makes it feel like the property is more work then it should be (we had to transition cleaning companies and we have had issues with bears) we do use automation where possible I have a PMS system that integrates all of our platforms and automates communications and notification of cleaners and maintenace etc so we are quite lean as far as our systems go.

Looks like sandy soil , i would grade it ouy , get some number 2 crushed concrete ( its cheap) use that for the base , hit it with a vibratory roller , then get some number 7 blue stone to top it off to look good .

A Contractor is a business person , that business is there to make as large as a profit as the market will bear . 

But I also need to bear witness to the unequivocal truth, that Pittsburgh has been very, very, very good to me.

That's why we have General Contractors.....And also bear in mind that it is almost always the homeowner, not the Contractor, that causes the cost over-runs and delays in scheduling.... 

I was able to reach an agreement with the Seller, but I was forced to complete due diligence including soil testing and surveying in less than 21 days which is very difficult in our market.