In my 40 years plus in this business I have one blemish and that was when my securities attorney told me I was fine.. and the State said I was not.. they argued .. and unless I wanted to spend 100 to 200k going to law review court..

If you're then spending $8,000 in improvements on the new rental there will be 2 items to look at:1.

What brand did you use in your rental property and how much did you spend? 

I think you need to spend at least $18/yd for retail flip carpet. 

Building a team is really important and as Kendall said, there are certainly poor vendors out there. spend time vetting multiple possible vendors, have backups, and build relationships.

But....I've been thinking....what will give me more "spending" money to invest in real estate?

@John Thedford  can quote the statutes that you may want to read for yourself.. so you don't spend money on attorneys etc.. 

Might work if the owner is planning on spending some time there?

@Nicholas Aiola I’ve considered this, but the problem is spending over the sale amount on the new property/ properties.

How much do I require to spend on the replacement property from the total sales proceeds, considering it would be around $60,000 after agent commission and closing costs?