Someone eventually talked him into investing in a syndication and he realized he was making a great return without any of the effort, so he invested in more.

Sometimes a investor wife needs to talk to another investor wife versus their investor husband -- where in some cases,  I just dig myself a bigger hole :). 

The term general contractor, is a fairly loose term in scope, so maybe you are talking more about a handyman, at least how I think about it.  

But when you say the deal isn't as attractive, how much of a difference in the numbers are you talking about?

One way might be to talk to some of your past customers, and ask them what features attracted them to the house, and what features they found neutral, and what features they wished were different.

It can if you're talking about an SFR.

Is there a better way to do this or am I sounding like I know what I’m talking about?

We talk with real estate investors every day.

I would like to know what metro area we are talking about.

I'd be happy to talk through your strategy to see if I can add any value.