If my contractor comes back with a higher estimate of work that I planned, then I can plug that in to see if my ROI is still good if I had to cover that out of pocket.If any of the above two options still don't work for my criteria for a good deal, then I can simply walk away from the deal.

However, I have a question about utilities.I understand the basics of figuring out your utilities estimates (simply calling the provider and asking), however a realization popped into my mind and my question is this: if I'm having my tenants pay ALL utilities, do I need to factor utility expenses into my monthly costs?

Good agents are just simply too busy for that.

I simply look at the repairs and renovations to get it up to the same quality as the rest of the neighborhood, the ARV market rent, and purchase price. 

Your income, more importantly your DTI, is simply a pass/fail criteria....no effect on interest rate. 

There are a lot of investors who are going to get hurt and may have already been hurt by the fact they are simply buying the word "turnkey" based on their own understanding and belief and not necessarily any real value of the investment itself.  

Does visitors accommodations permit simply do it?

The financing is my other huge hurdle simply because of how much of my margin it diminishes. 

Simply put you do not have to wait years.In contrast, non-traded (private) REITS do often have such limiting terms as described above.

Like Kai said - a lot of the books have been written in a very different market and give you advise that is simply not applicable for todays market!