The house (both upper and lower) was vacant, in great shape as the owner had done some minor updates to the flats.

Greetings BP fam,As I continue to build my portfolio, I understand investors should be baking a cash reserve into the cost of a rental's cash flow equation to cover planned/expected costs such as roofing or water heaters. 

For those of you who are flippers in the Phoenix area (full disclosure: I am not, I prefer the buy & hold investment model), there is a silver-lining to be had with this news: Regardless of how "low-ball" the offers Zillow makes are on average, the high-volume flipping business model would not yield much success in a flat or declining market especially if capex upgrades are minimal.

If the eviction is for non-payment of rent you should be able to get a flat fee eviction. 

When I bought a two flat in Chicago, our lender was satisfied with a LOE stating funds ($25k) were gifts to my wife and I (12,500 each). 

So, your cashflow looks more like:Ins= $50Tax= $70Mgmt= $73 (likely more if they charge a lease signing fee, and not just flat 10%).Vacancy/M&R= $109CAPEX= $150 (likely more)Total= $725 minus $452 = $273 monthly cashflow.

How do you pay your Bird Dogs? I have friends who are constantly on the road and in Northern NJ I often take Uber or Lyft etc. They all seem like they could be leveraged for your business just not sure how to pay them?

After the renos are done, you could bring them a small gift maybe some baking to thank them for 'putting up with the noise'. 

HUGE flats (over 1500 square feet each) in the heart of Hawthorne.

No none sense 10% flat rate.