Clearly a fixer upper is willing to put in more work, which the “more work” portion being reflected in how much more $$ you make.  

I’m young and have a low paying job and just paid off a large portion of debt, so I don’t have much money to put in.

You need to take it on the portion related to those 2 rental units.

To go out on a high wire and do the kind of BRRRR investing with other people's money that is fully recaptured by the refinance portion of the process...I really don't think that's realistic for people just starting out, and even less so at this point in the business cycle, where so many contractors are booked solid for months on months in advance.

.- I heard that tenants often do not pay their portion of the rent- If the tenant damages the property, there's no money to go after. 

Would be interested if anyone has any experience with temporarily shutting down a fireplace on a rental property and how they handled the front-facing portion.

@Rana Zaheer: It's typical for an investor to sell to another investor agreeing to settle the monetary portion of the violations only, or provide a credit for same, without curing the underlying issue that caused the violation. 

Tenants will pay all CAM, and I can even try to bill them a portion of the property taxes.

Become a subject matter expert for the portion of real estate investing you're interested in.Focus on what you can change/control, and the rest will follow.

I am afraid I won't get even close to a portion of the amount I need for cash out if I refinance.