luxury cabin, 3100', 4/3/1, nice finishes including spa and sauna, in high fire risk area with total property value ~$500k with CA FAIR was just over $5K fire only. 

They have to be tweaked on a regular bases and most of the time it is due to it throwing out some crazy high ridiculous prices for some dates.

I highly recommend interviewing multiple contractors and ask them for references. 

At the end of the day, losing $10k is really not a lot in the grand scheme of real estate investing, and given the seeming high volatility of this market ($275k to $220k, presumably in a matter of months), and the generally high monthly cost of HML, I would get out quickly and think of the loss as the cost of education.At least in my area (Cincinnati, OH) I don't see the market dramatically improving even as we get into the spring buying season, and, honestly, I only see mortgage rates continuing to climb for the foreseeable future, taking more and more buyers out of the market.

It's highly debatable whether $50k can be considered "reasonable compensation" if you make $200k from commissions on the properties you sell yourself (as opposed to a split with your agents).

Saturation is definitely upon us but quality product continues to get booked just like other markets.

When I was first starting out, I would walk the property by myself and try to come up with a highest budget possible and make sure I was taking into consideration the high ticket items like Roof, foundation, HVAC, HWT, etc. 

In high-appreciation markets (e.g., CA), lower cash flow may be acceptable.

So, make sure YOU understand the copy & paste info below:Recommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?

High demand for Section 8 housing.