Some may still ask for a small deposit upfront, but many are comfortable with formalized draws.Supplier Credit / Terms – Some suppliers offer net-30 or short-term terms, which can help bridge the gap until your draws are released.Reserve Planning – Even with a draw schedule, having a small reserve for materials or unexpected costs is critical—this is standard for first-time rehab investors.Clear communication between you, your lender, and your contractor is key.

Incentives & Redundancies Reduce BurnoutAmerican Airlines offered double pay and extra hours to get the crew back in position.In property management terms: build incentive structures for your on-call teams, use rotation systems so the same maintenance technician isn't pulled 24/7, and cross-train staff, so you're not reliant on one person for critical tasks.When you prioritize team sustainability and flexibility, you recover faster and maintain service quality.4.

This can be REALLY expensiveI prioritize layout and functionality, along with the most important factor: location.In the Philadelphia area, I’m consistently seeing better rental performance in the outskirts and surrounding counties compared to the city itself.When analyzing a deal—especially in a hot area—it’s important to understand the potential of the property, not just what it’s producing today.

Focus on properties that may be overlooked perhaps those needing smaller, less expensive updates like adding another bedroom, improving functionality, or improving curb appeal.Investing remotely could also work, especially if you target markets with better cash flow potential and less competition.

I am single, so the timing of disbursement of my assets isn't critical to support anyone. 

The role isn’t to manage vendors—it’s to prevent non-compliant work from reaching you.A proper gatekeeper function does a few things reliably:Confirms the caller is an approved vendorVerifies insurance, scope, and access instructionsEnsures required info is on file before work beginsRoutes true exceptions instead of every questionOnce vendor calls were filtered and handled against predefined rules:Fewer “urgent” calls that weren’t urgentLess rescheduling due to missing paperworkVendors showed up more preparedMy involvement dropped to edge cases onlyThe biggest benefit wasn’t speed—it was predictability.

I typically try to think of functionality and how things will pop in the photos as that is what will drive the bookings.Living Room - Dining Area.

I still have to manually fix vlookup and other functions that retrieve the Nth column in a search.

Matching the bed and bath count and the overall layout comes next, since buyers tend to compare homes based on functionality, not just size.

Planning for minor updates upfront—like fresh paint, durable flooring, and functional appliances—also helps make your property attractive for longer stays.