You really have:- Roof- Plumbing- ElectricalI replaced a roof the other month on a 1931 built brick Tudor for $10,500.

The draw back when starting out is there can be some cost savings with "bundling" everything together. 

You’re already giving strangers the equivalent of a cash gift every month.

I know exactly how much it should cost to hire a contractor, for any type of work on a house.

I want to try and find a set of bigger buyer communities or larger institutions that can reliably buy 5-10 properties per month in the following states: LA, TX, MS, MO, TN, GA, OH, FL.

It sounds like you already know how to market/find properties for your construction work - leverage that same skillset to find flips.You have an advantage over most beginning investors in that you know more accurately what the rehab costs will be for a certain project.

This can go towards covering unexpected maintenance costs or damage to the property.

Home prices are way up in the last few months.

you're still "investing" in it with the down payment, closing costs, setup... so that's capital that could be used for something else. 

The additional debt for the basement rehab is about $300/month, and it would increase overall STR cashflow by $1400/month.