I would buy the item with the tenants imput and also either perform the work myself at my rate or hire a contractor of my choosing to perform the work and then have the tenant reimburse me for the expense.

Return to work and refinance afterwards.2) Find new job in the investment area, work full time and be able to use bank financing to buy more properties (6-10 properties). 

. :-)Unfortunately, outside of that, I'm not sure there is anything you can do to shortcut the learning process.

Your house needs work and you can't sell it without me.

The estimate is not itemized and I will be requesting a detailed line by line estimate and I will be asking for an additional quote or two based on the scope of work and estimate.

One think that makes probates so attractive is that most people don't want to do the work and that's good for the rest of us

Also check the water meter itself, I was ready to tear out old galvanized piping and the city worker said he would swap out the meter first to see if that helped, my tenant called after work and thanked me for re-plumbing the home.

Thanks for the welcome everyone, I've already began listening to the podcast while driving, at work, and even during my workouts.

Investing is work, but not necessarily hard work and you can begin right in your own area.  

In watching the foreclosure proceedings here (which are educational/entertaining/addicting) the biggest reason for a foreclosure getting kicked, and having to start over, is if they actually have a trial, and the "witness" for the plaintiff, which should be a rep of the servicer, doesn't have all the proper paper work, and more importantly can not speak to the "accuracy" of the payment history print out and explain their "industry standard business practices, controls and procedures".