That can work.I'm wondering if you can somehow creatively do this deal where you pay an extra $5000 for this new condo, but have $5000 held back by the seller for you to do some kind of upgrades, but then just use the $5000 to pay down your original condo so you can get to 80% LTV in order to drop the PMI insurance and refinance at a more realistic rate.Is that HOA monthly? 

I'm looking at a deal that is in an A or maybe even A+ area, and wonder if it needs to be stressed to a greater degree than the usual C class deals, or stressed less because its such a good location.  

We usually act as out own GC so I figured we'd have to do it on this job, too, but life would be so much easier if I could have someone handle it for $150/ sq ft. 

A smart investor will usually try to create multiple streams of income.

The market dictates everything, including the rehab...but especially it decides, before you start lookingat properties, what market to invest in...or more important, which markets to NOT invest in.Once you find the right market(s), then you need to find the micromarkets within that market...and there are usually many.

Does it vary or is it usually a set amount, such as four months per investment property?

Martin ,,the other thing is folks that get scammed are usually quite reluctant to post about it.. one they don't want to be embarressed that they sent 500.00 to that nice person on BP who promised them a private money loan at 5% interest for 30 years with nothing down and no real credit.. this is RAMPANT on all social media from BP to Linkdin to Facebook.

The original closing date in May was missed and I was told the buyer was asking for 300-400K in "extras" and we were negotiating with them.  

Got the termite treatment done with some help, carpets removed, bathroom demoed, measured for windows and doors, working on putting a complete bid package together for Home Depot (If you spend more than $1500, you can request them to give you a bid price which is usually a bit cheaper). 

You could also purchase an extra General Liability Protection as well to offset any concerns you have about possible liability.