The nice part is that if you can get it to cash flow, even just a little bit, you burn through principal like [insert clever metaphor which I can't think of right now for some reason].

Take this idea and burn it in a dumpster 

In several pictures the ceiling fans seem to be short on bulbs (or maybe they are burned out). 

- What should I look for that has burned you in the past?

@Will BarnardBesides going to Lowes/Home Depot/other suppliers and reading The Book On Estimating Rehab Costs by J Scott, how else would someone learn rehab numbers (specifically labor costs) without burning bridges with realtors and contractors and without specifically taking a job as a residential estimator?

Not even your own broker.When it comes to repairs out-of-state you will get burned.

@Anna Laud door, window, and base trim and the faux beams get painted, chair rails get pulled off and patched, cabinets get burned in a bon fire, never to be spoken of again.  

If you want a good contractor you can't be penny pinching or you're going to end up with a guy who sold the job too cheap and is jumping from job to job kiting along the 50% deposits until they're all burned out and your project is 6 months behind schedule. 

We've done this for our entire rental career based on the advice of an early mentor who got burned badly by a bunch of fake stuff.

He was burned out at his job - with daily headaches, missing the kids' events, tired of being taken advantage of, no time for a life.