Trying to do analysis and see if premium properties can pay out enough cash flow to be worth the purchase price and the potential difficulty in financing.  

I post the checks and receipts to a spreadsheet, as a transparent basis for "at cost" renovations in lieu of "skin in the game".  

This is compounded by some difficulties specific to DC, notably the aforementioned TOPA procedures, as well as many rowhouses with potentially rentable but not legal basements.

They have zero skin in the game.

I'm having difficulty actually comping it out and was wondering if i could get some assistance..

I usually fund repairs and put about 10k into the purchase to show skin in the game.  

Just another world and yes you earn your money.Razor wire and bullet-proof glass are the worst forms of property management until you consider the alternatives.When I was a teenager in Upstate New York in the 1960s, my parents kept cautioning me if I ever got into financial difficulty and couldn't get a loan from a bank, to never borrow money from a loan shark because most of these predatory lenders had connections to organized crime.

If you don't have any capital at all, it will be hard for you to even do syndications, as most investors will want you to have some skin in the game.

So the cert buyer gets a day or two of interest, it's part of the held-back funds and no additional skin off your nose.

Also,if you on sticking around BP, get a thicker skin.