I actually thought about getting some stock pantry drawers and placing those in the closet.

Hi Adam,I've always been a real estate guy but exposed my personal portfolio quite heavily to a regional bank ETF.I guess time will tell if I'll be a "Hero" or "Zero" lolCome on you Fed and reduce those rates 😁Real estate is and always will be my bread and butter tho.You can't beat the safety of a "brick and mortar" investment per se.My best advice would be if you are going to go down the path of investing in out of state rentals to have a growth mindset.Buying 1 or 2 isn't worth the risk or hassle and you might as well invest in your own back yard.10+ years in the industry and my most unsatisfied investors are the one's that build smaller portfolio's.If a property goes vacant and takes a few months to get it back performing, with a small portfolio that could impact cashflow of 30-50% for that year.Our investors that own 7,8 or 10+ properties, don't even feel it if 1 or 2 go vacant.Just my opinion and wishing you much success

I want it to be nice, but i'm not flipping a high end home.This is an actual scope of work. 

I want to either leverage this to lower my rent to inadvertently pay for a storage unit in place of the basement, actually gain basement access, or keep it in my back pocket as there is a small chance my fiance and I want to break the lease early and this may be grounds to do so. 

While not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, it does create delays and more items that I have to keep track of, that aren't actually productive.I understand a repeat customer may get priority treatment, it's when a desire to keep that customer happy by overlooking existing problems that come up later, occur.

If you have an insurance claim with renters in the property and a homeowner policy I would expect the claim to be denied.The benefit of landlord insurance is that it will actually cover you, if you try to rent a house out with a typical homeowner policy you are simply not covered (even though you are paying premiums).Insurance is not where you want to go lowest bidder or look to cut corners - it is there to save your behind in the event of a major incident.

I may try to invest locally actually now that I understand I would need to fly back and forth very often to buy properties etc.

I guess I just don't try hard enough.  

Also talked to various finance professionals to get creative on getting across the finish line.Initially it was me and one other GP, but we brought on a third GP to help us raise recently - pending him actually helping raise the funds.We're looking to raise 900k, 700k to close. 400k raised so far (including GP equity), 300k more needed, with 2 weeks left to close.

I guess I can contact her contractor and ask some questions.