In other words your agent couldn't give you an ARV based on all the work you did so you wanted an independent appraisal in order to understand how to price it? 

Keep making smart decisions and you'll find yourself well on your way to financial Independence. 

When you use HEL funds, keep careful records for tracing the funds in an audit. 

In order to offset my passive real estate losses against my active income from my day job I need to claim that I'm a Real Estate Professional for taxes (750 hours spent on real estate management minimum).My accountant tells me that this is an area that the IRS audits quite often because they know it's a really sweet deal.So my question is to those that already designate themselves as a Real Estate Professional, how many units are you self managing?

I would suggest finding a couple independent agents and have them run comparison quotes.

Used an independent mortgage broker.

I owned an independent PM firm for 10 years before converting. 

Has the repair been verified by an independent, qualified source?

I'd be happy to chat with you sometime and perhaps I can connect you to some people or with some of the investor groups I'm in, depending on what it is you're looking to do.

I'm a single mom with 3 kids with goals of becoming financially independent through real estate.