If you have the juice go to buyers ask but have them pay the closing costs.

So it seems the juice is worth the squeeze for me.

The juice probably isn't worth the squeeze in small claims court.

We have used him to get a judgement against a contractor that went belly up on us as well as to help with evictions and foreclosures.

Everyone want to know about how a leap of faith turned into a swan dive into affluence instead of a belly flop into broke.

I know it's harder than the mindset I'm in right now, but shouldn't I just borrow what I need to demo/build (roughly $1.5m) from someone who has capital lying around, and pay that back (of course with interest/juice/premium, whatever you may call it) upon completion of the project?

Even though you snake a line, those bellies cause hell. 

You have to decide if the juice is worth the squeeze.One other thing to keep in mind- sometimes those upgrades can add very little in rent premiums, but they may create a good deal of equity, which you could leverage and turn in to cash flow in another property.

My first mistake:Don't be swayed by realtors trying to juice you on price based on "hot" markets.

You can juice that return by putting some leverage on it.But there's also plenty of risk if you don't get a long-term lease or a decent tenant that's business will survive over time.