@Logan Logan A.undefinedYou can't be naive about construction techniques and be in real estate for very long, there are rip offs out there. $400 a layer does sound high, but you haven't mentioned how many squares or the size or the job either. :)

Dave, you are not learning how to value real estate in the investing podcasts, videos, books or other materials unless appraisal techniques are taught and I'd really be surprised if they mention or go past mentioning the three approaches to value.The computations to find the ARV are out there, but that doesn't give you the assessment of the valuation in your market. 

Arbitrary option fees can be predatory dealing because an option contract has a measurable and determinable value, there are appraisal techniques to determine the value of a real estate option.

Don't assume that techniques used to deceive the public are only reserved for lenders.  

is there any specific technique or language that is being used that works best?

The exit strategy must make sense.Consider the exit strategy and implore the techniques here to ensure your exit strategy is a viable one.

Downstairs: gutting and opening up the kitchen, adding a dishwasher, gutting and enlarging the main bathroom and gutting the 1/2 bath, enlarging the master bedroom closet, adding laminate floors and new paint.

I'll start off by saying believe in the power of CL (craigslist) I don't let a day pass   without utilizing that site.my advice to you would be log on CL search area's within a 2hr distance from you go under real estate fsbo filter your search with we buy house's or I buy ugly house's and investor special,once you find these ads start making phone calls,reason being these investors know their local market and have their hands on the pulse of that farm area.After dissecting all the useful info from local rei,I generally go to google streetview and walk the neighborhoods to have a better understanding of there market.Trust me it works I just closed 3 wholesale deals in Birmingham,Al using those same techniques,I was fortunate enough to find a we buy house's sign on a street corner zoomed in on the sign called the number and almost 2 months later the deal was funded.I hope this post serves you willCheers!

This technique is called pipe bursting where a new pipe is underwater in place and as the machine pulls the new pipe it also expands the old pipe out of the way.

Don't try to do it alone find a good real estate who specializes in The real estate investing technique that will be best for you based on your answers to questions above.Our company Leaseown Homes invests using lease options, we found it limits our liability, allows us to minimize the use of our cash and allows us to invest in real estate without risking our credit.