Nothing is ever 100% but I have tons of friends who would love the opportunity to live for fairly cheap so I have plenty of backup options in case someone bails!

For rentals I like cheap, If I am replacing something or fixing something for a tenant who has been with me over a year I will get something a little better than the cheapest.

I would look for areas that are depressed where I could buy cheap, but are likely to appreciate well over the next 20 years.

I'm very surprised to hear those kinds of terms for hard money, especially from someone coming from CA, where most of the cheap HMLs are. 

If you look at crude oil it is back to $70 bbl and Iranian embargo all have an effect on transportation cost as Americans use home delivery more and more often putting shopping center out of business.  

Some of the ads are garbage, so actually post ads with photos, just dont put appliances in until you have someone moved in, schedule delivery on the same day they move in.https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_rent/Detroit-MI-48227/79082_rid/42.413191,-83.177534,42.380548,-83.232465_rect/13_zm/

We don't want to be cheap landlords or anything (the house is in perfect condition on the inside), but I also don't want to be bullied into giving them something I'm not required to.

Labor and material costs in the Bay Area are on average $200-$250 per SqFt for brand new construction, so that's where I'm at a loss - even for a rehab of 3k SqFt, it shouldn't be that cheap.

@Francis Ifeacho, there's the cheap way and the expensive way. 

I haven’t quite figured it out but I think he is finding ones that have to be loved and picking them up cheap and relocating them then selling them and seller financing some as well.