I usually don't buy items like this from China in the first place.

TIC's also are limited in quantity of investors to 35  and you might have a few meetings to discuss major repairs and there will inevitably be a capital call every so often because of extraordinary items. 

If you are doing a live in flip and can do it knowing you will be refinancing no earlier than 12 months and can cover the HELOC, mortgage, expenses of flipping and any other items that come up (repairs to the other unit, and vacancy) you will be good.

Another key takeaway is to not over leverage  so that you can afford to build up reasonable levels of reserves to deal with unplanned vacancy of capital items. 

During the course of the project he recommended a few extra items he could do for a fee, like mowing the overgrown lawn, adding new stairs to the back porch, removing the skirtings around the house and adding new ones, etc etc.

., 5-10% of gross rent for big-ticket items like roofs, HVAC).Know Your Rehab Budget: For your first one, keep the rehab simple: floors, paint, appliances, maybe a bathroom refresh.

That to me is a bigger issue.I'd inspect the big ticket items to be sure I new what I was buying, sewer, roof, heat/AC and so on.

Big-ticket items with a visible fuse—roof, HVAC, parking, elevators—should be pre-funded on a glide path so you’re not relying on last-minute calls.

Congratulations on getting involved Lindsay.While on vacation, I have a local friend or our cleaner on stand by for any emergency items.

When I told them we were done, I was called unprofessional for "demanding" (I just requested itemized reports) reports.