had a contractor recommended by a realtor. used him on some minor jobs, did ok.contracted to rebuild the inside of a small house that we found to be infested with mold and had to gut. gave 75% upfront (all materials and 1/2 labor), which i now know was a bad idea.

Life is truly weird sometimes, cards get dealt, and you gotta play the hand you are dealt.I'm a big fan of Robert Kiyosaki's "Rich Dad" books, and within' the philosophy, Robert teaches that there are 4 quarters to the "game of life".Age 25-35: 1st quarterAge 35-45: 2nd quarterAge 45-55: 3rd quarterAge 55-65: 4th quarterAge 65+: OvertimeAge 70: out of time...The goal of the this "game" (in order to win) your passive income is greater than your expenses - putting you what Robert calls "out of the rat race".If you think about it - many great sporting events are won in the last quarter - and given that you are still in YOUR FIRST quarter, it may give you some solace and encouragement to realize that you still have time to completely rebuild and succeed!

If the property is destroyed for any reason, they likely will not let you re-build in the same place, which could affect the size of what can be re-built.

She has recieved many offers from people who want to scrape it off and rebuild on the lot.

you could not rebuild that home for double what you folks pay for these cash flow homes in the mid west and East.

On older homes, it's often 64" or less...sometimes we can just cut the scalloped edge if there is one...othertimes, my brother, who is a master carpenter, gets the task of rebuilding the cut cabinet.

Your insurance company is on the hook to rebuild/repair the property to current code if there's damage.

If that's the case it's likely that you would not be able to re-build 2 homes on a lot that's currently zoned for SFR.Probably good to poise this as a hypothetical question to someone in city zoning.

I got everything I had out of the country just at the right time and now I'm only waiting for the next big crisis coming next year when the newly elected president takes office and starts implementing the measures necessary to rebuild the Argentinian economy; the first one will have to be devaluation. 

But with buying my first house and getting engaged all in the same year, I have spent the last six months rebuilding my emergency savings account (which is 85% back to full).