First, contractors are hard to find and the cost of materials has jumped dramatically, making it awfully expensive to renovate a home.

That being said, you might want to consider living in it for 2 years to qualify for hte sec121 exclusion, as limited as that timeframe might be.That all being said, its really tough to give you answer. 

I am gathering the final list of materials for a renovation for a rental property in East Point, Ga.

students deserve nice places to live. we aren't trying to be slumlords but i do realize that students probably have slightly lower expectations than other types of tenants, so i feel we wont need to break the bank in the level of finishing details like we did on our own home but we will provide housing that is clean and safe and attractive. also thinking we can use some creative materials and methods to make the units party-proof. maybe we get lucky and find some long term professors or grad students and don't have to do annual turnover on every unit. even so, i budgeted 8% for property management after watching david greene's webinar yesterday.the heloc would allow for an easy down payment and a nice buffer for rehab, and i have 750+ credit score and good wage earning history, so i think a conventional loan should not be a problem to obtain. a cash out refi might be an option on the horizon if we decide to really crank a proper rehab but the units (from the pictures i saw) are livable as-is.should i be more specific here on the address/market to get better help?

Sometimes tough for non-local to get loans I would expect....but worth a shot.   

This was true before the material inflation, but more so now that the material inflation has cause the garage ADU conversion to increase in costs significantly.Before proceeding with the garage ADU conversion make sure you can find multiple comps that show that it is a value add proposition. 

Just seems like a niche that may be tough to get into.

I'm renting out the other two rooms and I am in need of a solid leasing form that I can fill in my specific provisions in addition to all the material you typically see on every lease.

@Chelsea Gatewood costs can vary significantly, although material are generally similar across markets with some exceptions like granite and quartz, labor can vary greatly.

The tough part with using a contractor is keeping them happy.