Honestly, knowing the material and taking my time (reading carefully) during the exam is all I needed.

Another thing to keep in mind is Santa Rosa is facing a shortage of construction materials and labor so it's very likely you will be spending over $700,000 to build a new home in Coffey park.

Also have a wood skill saw, metal skill saw, hand planer, jig saw, finish nailer, band saw.

I invested cash and my return has been quite good.I have not had HOA issues or assessments although I keep a large rainy day fund in case it comes.I did have competition from other units but I remodeled a tad higher taste (just a good combo of construction materials, nice colors and good workmanship) that appealed to the aspirational side of enters without screaming expensive, nor being expensive to me.I rented all units in a matter of days.

Are all the materials you are buying through Menards or Home Depot or are they specialty stores?

I would be covering more / all of the down payment, while he would be buying materials and covering labor costs. 

Another thought is I can probably find a local Contractor to GC the job and pay a "fee" to allow me to do some of the work myself but he'll include the materials in his draw requests.Any comments are appreciated. 

Lastly, are there materials you can use, or changes in the way you design floor plans to reduce neighbor noise in small multi families or apartment buildings?

Cost of material sq ft.

His quote was 1300+materials.