To thrive in real estate investing, you must maintain a firm grip on your finances.

A location like beachfront property or a desirable class A neighborhood.

Until you have a firm grasp of these 2 questions, everything else is irrelevant.

If they didn't give you a firm reason as to why they didn't want to rent then it could have been price.

But its in a less than desirable area so the bump in prices isn't going to continue - partially due to the high taxes those areas are seeing. 

I will be the contractor working with the architect firm to ensure this project goes smoothly.  

I would suggest starting there and then seeing if an online tool is desired.

This chart basically shows me which City's are most desirable (can do the same with Zip Codes):Anything to the right of 0 means the $/sf is growing QoQ on average, and the height is the current $/sf of that market.

As background, it's a 1400 sq ft ranch in a very desirable area where homes typically fetch $500/ft+ after rehab or new build.

The premium they are paying is having the ability to book highly desired dates that far in advance.