Rents are close to 1% with this approach and very insulated even if the market drops another 10-20%. 

But I'm located in a fairly noisy urban area with original single pane windows, overall inferior sound insulation, and most travel nurses work night shifts. 

The kicker is there's no insulation in there that needs removing or adding back in...they basically want ~$3500 to vacuum up some mouse droppings, sterilize and add some wire mesh in a job they said would be under a day.

For example, there is no insulation under the floor or around pipes, part of the roof needs repair and half of it appears to have 3 layers of roofing material, single pane windows presenting a moisture problem, some failing siding, etc. 

Best solution is to encapsulate and insulate (the walls) of the crawl space.

Two concerns with it:  1. not sure if I can expect to be able to refinance with 80-75% LTV on the after-repair value  2. inefficiencies likely to arise replacing plaster with insulation+drywall and installing super basic kitchen, when ultimate plan is to replace floors and put in a nice kitchen. 

How about insulation? 

We have seen some instances of price adjustments and higher incentives, but low supply has insulated many builders," he shares.New-home sales for the metro area increased 7% year over year to an annualized rate of 3,425 units in June.

You  also have to add insulation to the walls and roof.

I learned that caulk and paint will fix any gap in a window.Speaking of unwanted airflow, my insulation education was top notch, just cover every window casing in its entirety with plastic sheeting.