Many buyers look at houses at the very top of their budget, and therefore the solar lease can blow their approval even if they would have gladly assumed the terms into their name.Additionally, paid off solar can really only add value to a house in markets where it is the norm to have paid-off solar AND houses that sell for more because of it. 

There will definitely need to be a reno budget to, at the least add bedrooms, and I am looking to stay under 400k.

While my insurance charges are relatively low each year given this is a condo, I learned to better assess who is behind budget planning at the HOA level for all of the units for roof, cleaning costs, basement improvements (shared by all units), given this was run well by one individual.

There are budget-friendly self-management sites that make setting up applications and collecting rent simple and again, you can pocket that 12%.

Generally people might budget 15% of incoming rent for these items.

A few examples:PMI if you put down less than 20%HOA fees or budgeting for your own maintenance costsZillow Estimates: I found Zillow can underestimate costs, so I add a bit more to their numbers to get a realistic idea.Hope the process is going smoothly for you!

Now, I know someone could say the cost should be "negligible" couple of hundred dollars a month, in comparison to the whole buildout budget, but still I do want to know what are the best practices out there.

With a $350-400K budget and your $30-40K down payment, there are markets where this could work, but it might require a bit of flexibility in location.

My wife is an artist /interior decorator too and makes beautiful spaces on a budget, so would kill it with MTR, I think. 

The right wholesaler that knows how to properly calculate a SOW (scope of work) to gain the rehab budget, generate an ARV from local comps and not want to get rich on every deal is NOT easy to find....but, they do exist.