Also, granite is more durable (tenant proof) than Formica. 3. make sure the "cosmetic rehab" is complete. if plumbing and lighting fixtures look old or out of date, replace them. this is a relatively small expense for a 290K house.

I called the city permit department just to check what was required for finishing the place out and the lady said that I must have a general contractor for the electrical/plumbing/hvac.Now I understand the need for this, not questioning it or complaining. 

I class myself as a newbie to Real Estate Investing as I have much to learn.Growing up in poverty and domestic violence has really shaped the person I am today, from a young age I have always had the desire to become wealthy and retire in my 30's.

It’s no different that having a renovation  budget of 20k for the kitchen then discover plumbing and foundation problems and that kitchen budget gets cut to 15k.  

@Lea Hong, because both of you are not US citizens it is very important for FIRPTA withholding issues that the property stay in a domestic LLC. 

They got permits for electrical, plumbing, and moving walls, but never got a deconversion permit.

I’m also going to trade school for plumbing and that wasn’t the only thing that I wanted to do so I was looking for other ways to have extra income and one day I bumped into Real Estate Wholesaling and I was very interested and I’ve been looking into Wholesaling for almost 3 months now.

This is used quite often when crossing state borders in a 1031 as many state require either an LLC in their state or at least an LLC that is domesticated to that state. 

How's the plumbing? 

Some of that is pad development (power poles, driveways, etc), but even purchasing them for $3500 a piece, once you move and set ($4k), add HVAC (it's always gone bad, $2k), new skirting ($1k installed), decks (anywhere from $500 - $1500), plumbing hookups, electric hookups, any rehab needed.... you see where that's going.