It would save me a lot of time.Thank you

Good morning Max,A realtor can save you tons of time from doing your own research trying to find listings already on the market.

BP has tons of information including free online videos and educational courses and even has it's own podcast in itunes.

The estimates, one from a guy we've used before and another local contractor, are in the 200-300k range.Those estimates sound wildly inflated to me based on quite a bit of research I've done online.

We could have finished this place in 3-4 months, and saved about 10K in holding costs and lost rents by having someone else working during the week. 

You seem to be more deserving to be saved from the voodoo and folklore that gurus and hype dealing that most beginning investors fall for.

I have been looking at a lot of HUD homes online.

I make between $130-240,000 a year (very thankful for a great job) and have a ton of savings.

No one ever said that it was going to be "easy" to save and grow wealth.

I'm sure you can save some money by donating your own labor so that might get your foot in the door.