However, after making contact, they walked away without any explanation.I am willing to listen to and follow the advice of more experienced people, but it feels like some agents are only interested in their bottom line.

Purchase price: $670,000 Cash invested: $100,000 Remodeled top to bottom

I would suggest maybe consider buyers that are having a hard time winning bids elsewhere (not sure if there are bidding wars going on out there), or don't have the most ideal terms on their offer (contingencies, etc.) that can still work for your bottom line.

Always try to run the numbers side by side with the two scenarios (as is, vs. the cash-out refi + new property) and look at the bottom line of each - typically the best way to do it.Also - any reason why you are committed to someone "local"?

Bottom line, this type of activity will cost 3-6k a week in labor, and materials are above that. 

Bottom line was that with a $5,000 initial investment I now had $10,000 equity in a house and $21,500 cash!  

Feel" the true beat of the portfolio's income and expenses performance before using leverage to speed up the growth of your portfolio.Using cash only will protect your bottom line in scenario's like yours when the properties don't perform as expected as you won't be on the hook to cover the mortgage expenses.Just my bias opinion so take it with a grain of salt.I've also witnessed many finger pointing instances when others get involved.Like a new property manager, realtor, contractor, etc...I've had my share of bad experiences with realtors that threw my company under the bus and got in the investors ear to flog it at any price just so they can make a quick commission.It get's very messy, painful and pretty much turns into a disaster with the investor not knowing who to trust or what to do anymore.Similar to what you post about has happened to me and my company many times and if allowed the opportunity, we do our best to fix and come good.Some loose trust and faith and I 100% understand, but as soon as someone leaves the wing of my company there is not much that we can do because as I mentioned above, everyone else get's involved, has an opinion and the situation get's very messy.Having in-house property management is vital when such a "crisis" arises.I tried out-sourced PM when we first started and it was a disaster.We had no choice other than to bring it in-house.Hated my life for the first 5 years with in-house PM and fast forward 10 years, it has become our "golden goose" and a very well streamlined and beautiful business.From what I've seen and read on the forum and elsewhere it seems like RTR has a good reputation and what you have mentioned seems like a "worst case scenario".I hope RTR will assist you the best they can and all I can say is learn from the experience and don't give up.Do your best to weather the storm and focus on minutia.Don't have regrets and don't spend too much time dwelling on the past.Glimpse into the past to get guidance from what you could have done better and think ahead.Move forward smarter, more experienced and better.Wishing you well and much success with your future endeavors.

Whether it says Passive LP, creative financing, fix and flipping, notes, Short Term Rentals, seller financing  etc - I am at the bottom - I can scream no but I far too often hear stories of people quitting their job to pursue real estate and then end up very unsuccessful. 

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