Are teardown and rebuilds effective?

[Ian Jaeger]

I stumbled upon a pair of houses in an area that could be greatly up and coming in the next few years - already seeing some gentrification around the area.  Neither of them are listed for sale, but they recently got to the point where plywood was put up over the remaining windows.

They are obviously not something that's going to be 'flipped' as the building in the back has a 2 foot hole in the roof and there are obvious signs of structural fatigue.  But the lot is in a great spot although looking at the plat, on one, there is a 24ft driveway easement that cuts through diagonally, and on the other, the build lines on the plat / deed don't match AT ALL to what the house is on the lot.

As I'm new to this, I can see the potential, but I have NO IDEA how to even get started on estimating something like this.  Does anyone in north Dallas (Lewisville / Grapevine / Coppell) have any experience with this and is willing to sit and have coffee on my dime so I can pick your brain?