IMHO total waste of time and money, I built homes for many years taking undo care about energy efficiency, air changes per hour etc.

I will let you know if I find a reliable and trustworthy contractor! 

Is there a better sprayer for your money that will be reliable?

That’s about $7,000 if I go basic and $12,000 for energy efficient.

I will be doing my own labor with my partner, to keep sweat equity, but I am trying to ballpark the numbers here to get a reliable ARV.I will be looking to pay cash for the properties, cash for renovations as well, then do a cash-out refinance in a year or so.

What's important is to understand is your cash flow needs currently, which investments you feel more comfortable with (probably mutual funds in your 401k vs. real estate), and the amount of time and energy you will be spending on those investments.  

It was our first experience running an Airbnb so that can be challenging in terms of getting a reliable house cleaner that can get in and turn the beds in a short time frame, having to furnish a property can get expensive if you are not able to find good deals and we are still in the process of a partial release with the mortgage company for the lot.

It may be different elsewhere, but it may just be the easiest and quickest route to get the most reliable data.

I also agree what Travis said, you must have to have a reliable partner or team.

- I assume that if the job market is dominated bytech and healthcare (for example) would be considered reliable, are they fields and industries to stay away from?