I have a relatively high paying W-2, several rentals (where they use $0 of the rental income on my mortgage application), and no consumer debt.  

As a matter of fact, if it’s an open item I sure am not going to consume it.

While an owner-occupant is willing to take this time consuming task on for free, it is a direct expense for an investor.What this really adds up to is the cards are stacked against an investor with respect to making money in rentals, not the other way around.

Don't look to hit a home run on any, just look to hit singles and doubles.And as Ivan and Greg mentioned consume as much content on multifamily as you can in order to make the best decisions.I've take a similar strategy and it has worked very well so myself as the other investors I work with.

Don't kid yourself that the scarcity mindset doesn't think the first way - just because they're hoarding dollars by clipping coupons and cutting their own lawns doesn't mean they're going to make that money make money - it's still going to be blown on consumer goods or experiences. 

Bait and switch is not good for you the consumer or for us the lenders, but there are a few that operate their business this way-unfortunately. 

Sales and transactions are trickier, because the vast majority of purchases involve a large sum of money for both the seller and the buyer.Some of the best consumer surplus from technology comes from much smaller purchases.

Regular consumers pay about 400 per square.So your roof in my area would be APPROX $3900-$5200. 

Usually it will be priced better (rate/fee combo) through them than if you called XYZ Bank directly, due to volume discounts generally unavailable to a typical "1 mortgage per 3-7 years" consumer. 

Unfortunately, unlike here in CA, FL does not have any maximums on what a contractor can charge for a deposit, it is up to the client and contractor to agree on said deposit (at least that is the info I had since I checked last in FL).In CA, we have better protections for the consumers where the contractor may not charge more than 10% up to $1,000 maximum at contract signing.