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.

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. 

., 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.

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.

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.

You do not get new depreciation for the loan you've taken out, so be careful that you are not going to be taxed on income you are not physically seeing.Another item, If you cash out to purchase another property you must follow what is called the Tracing rules.  

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

And tip: the store (big box or little box store) do not always tell the crews there is a haul away on the old item.

Due to item 1, adding an ADU can require years to start achieving any return (once the accumulated cash flow recovers the initial negative position).4) Adding an ADU is a slow process.