A firm with employees will likely charge more than a single preparer office (due to overhead, etc).

I feel like these type of deals overlook the value of your time time and energy

Feel free to take this offline if you want to have a conversation instead.I hope I am replying correctly to all of you as the messaging thing here is a little new to me. :)

I've already attended a few open houses in those neighborhoods during past visits and have driven around to get a feel for the area.In terms of finances, I currently have around $250k in cash, mostly in a high-yield savings account, along with some laddered T-Bills.

Most W2 employees will have a tough job justifying that more time is spent in RE activities but since my W2 is far from "full time" does that make any difference if I track my hours? 

I finally feel ready to start taking action.

Feel free to reach out to explore some options :) 

If you feel they're being too harsh, think about their intent.

I suppose if you would feel more comfortable adding it to the listing you could tell how future improvements are coming to area, so it may be a bit noisy. 

I think the same logic can be applied here, the difference being that you feel they should have completed the repairs by now.