Luckily real estate is pretty cheap where I live.Taking out a mortgage for real estate is foolish unless you are fairly wealthy and can easily weather it not being rented out/rented out for cheaper than it really should be.

I was surprised to see @Greg Dickerson, state: "You could easily double that in a year with doing flips and small infill development projects."

It could be done at any time fairly easily and I wouldn't be surprised if they still do it.As others suggested, prepare an updated account summary.

Sky-high APR, dealer/doc/undercoating/pinstriping/paint/seat/tire/wheel protection etc. etc.

Which changes the approach significantly.Also, any tenant management situation takes knowledge and experience... which can easily be learned in a single family environment. 

If this goes even close to a 2008 scenario I should easily be able to buy up several properties cash and quit the rat race. 

As such, if you're able to get that information (either from the MLS or seller), reputable companies should be able to easily give you a solid ballpark idea on renovation cost without visiting the property.It is extremely important to verify the contractors you interview not only talk the talk, but walk the talk.

So please someone tell me, is it even lawful for the city to force you to pay someone to do work that you can easily and adeptly do yourself?

I know that if I hired this out to contractors, it would easily surpass $800 but I'd rather do the work myself and return any deposit if possible.

I have been in this business for over 20 years and I can say that easily 50-60% of the wholesalers I have relationships with do not estimate anything.