This Mountain Modern condominium has high-end finishes in kitchen and bathrooms including heated floors and custom built-ins in the living room.

Why not just go to a bank or private lender rather than play with that very high interest money?

If one contractor can lead you to another and they do good work together the overall outcome of your project is going to be smoother and higher quality.

There is a high demand for rentals and not nearly enough inventory.

Try looking at it a slightly different way with some quick math:$900,000 sales price$22,500 cost of purchase (appraisal, points, lender fees, title fees, etc - 2.5%)$90,000 cost of sale (10% commissions, closing costs, buyer credits)$64,000 carrying costs (6 months at 10%)$25,000 additional carrying costs (6 months taxes, utilities, HOA, misc)$100,000 rehab cost (the number used above)$68,500 profit = $530,000 max allowable offer.Some numbers may be a bit high, others may be a bit low. 

I probably would quality for being a trade or business with the amount of hours I put in remodeling and such but since I don't have logs for the past 4 years (since I've had my rentals for much longer), it would be at least 3 to 4 more years before I'd qualify for that.

Where the property values are way too high to invest in.

@Bryson WilliamsTypically you would have your tenants pay their own utilities since you wouldn't want to cover someone's high water or electricity/gas bills but some cities will put a lien on your property if certain utilities aren't paid.

@Tracy Scott it's highly dependent on the deal, the type of property and the location.In addition to the items others have mentioned, here are some of the biggest potential start-up expenses that I study closely before buying a property:Foundation/structure--this is one of my few "deal breakers", I typically will not purchase a property with significant foundation or structural issues.

I live in California and like many California Investors prices are just too high in the area I live.