My best suggestion is simple: try to find contractors that are willing to work without trip charges.

Then, pay the balance you owe your contractors from the funds you received from the refi.

1 thing you can do is to go register at Home Depot as a Contractor, this will give you access to supplies so you have an idea....for labor call a contractor and ask what he charges...X's how long you figure the project should take...and there you go...go do it several times and you should be pretty close.

I am an REO Listing Broker in the Houston Area and I work with investors helping them purchase homes, hiring contractors, and either re-selling the homes, or managing the properties as rentals for out-of-state owners.

What we are doing out here in california is the following Model:1) purchase a Home either Trustee Sale or REO A) 2 Beds 1 Bath B) 750 -1100 Sq Ft Living Space C) 7000 Minimum Lot Size2) I have a contractor that will add 2 Beds and 1 bath and 1 Patiofor the low--Low--Price of 50K (In California that's cheap).3) Sell it Just under Market Value for a house that size and if they use my mortgage guy I will Pay ALL Closing Costs.EX: Property Purchased at Trustee Sale = 300,000Add 2 beds 1 bath 1 Patio + Permits = 55,000Sell for Market Value 525,000Pay Closing Costs @ 5% 26,250Make Profit of: 143,750Not bad for a 5 months Work.Joseph

Do they have other contractors that they work with?

He took bids from contractors across Indianapolis and averaged them out for different jobs.

Contractor's insurance should pay for any construction mistakes.

Beyond gaining a new vocabulary, any practical knowledge you might want will only be gained after you get the license through spending many hours with seasoned realtors, investors, contractors, etc.

I hooked up with him at an REI club meeting and used him for about 15 years.I live in a town that's pretty small (we got a HD 3 years ago), but obviously we're large enough to have a "contractors supply" (side road location, not generally interested in doing business with the public) and a "lumber yard" (busy highway location-definitely interested in everyone's business).