Your perspectives have been incredibly helpful as I navigated how to handle the situation.Here’s how I just responded to the tenant:I expressed sympathy for their situation and the loss of their pets.

If you have the time to get your hands dirty -- do it.Continue to take down and manage bigger project after bigger project as you go.

If you are single, look for uneven multis where you can live in a small unit and rent out the bigger one (e.g. - 1/1 and a 3/2 instead of 2/1 and 2/1)2.

Sometimes making a smaller profit and providing value is far better than holding out for a bigger payday on a bad deal, I like that.

@Monish Anand Bigger Pockets has an 'agent finder' tool.

I thought I got their name off of Bigger Pockets awhile back, but I can't seem to find their name on here now.

I'm wondering if I should build out the house to sold comps valuation (bigger more expensive house chasing equity valuation) ORShould I build just enough of a nice mountain cottage for best cashflow.

Or buy a thermal camera to check for heat losses, they have gotten really cheap. 

Welcome to the Bigger Pockets community @Ashley Snider! 

Once you feel you've built a strong team with your first property and have solid systems in place, I would then start buying more aggressively and taking on bigger projects.I suggest reading this BP article on the core 4.https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/core-four-real-estate-team