This usually doesn't happen here any more with banks since there is such competition here at this time (but we found extensive damage that was hidden such as the roof having three layers of roofing, the bottom which was cedar shake with ZERO sheeting at all).Pre-purchase: 2bed/1bath 800 sqft finished living space with an unfinished 720sqft basementAfter Rehab: 3bed/2bath 1520 sqft finished living spaceRehab consisted of: demo, re-wire entire house, move electrical panel and update, roof, siding, hardwoods installed, build new bath in basement, add master bedroom in basement, add washer dryer closet in basement, remove upstairs wall and add beams, remove addition in back and rebuild deck, fencing, landscaping, EVERYTHING, you get the idea.This house did take a full month longer for rehab then anticipated, but it all worked out in the end.The Bad: Budgeted 75k for rehab, ended up 88k, anticipated 60day rehab, took 90days, termites, no HVAC where we thought, Water heater was leased so it got removed after buying it (didn't know that), had to fire a contractor and have others fix his bad work, bath tubs were lain incorrectly and was not discovered until we were ready for tile...The Good: House turned out WAY better than thought, the additional time for rehab gave time for neighborhood market to increase as well, low inventory at time of listing, sold in 4 days.Numbers:  Purchase: $165k (CASH)Rehab: $88kHolding costs: roughly $2500All selling/closing/realtor/staging/misc: $35kSelling Price: $369,000 with no concessionsNet Profit roughly:  $82,556

If they are experienced with permits they should be able to figure out everything I told you and you should not be doing this leg work for them.By-the-way - replacing a bathtub is not going to be considered 'cosmetic' anywhere with the exception of being way out and rural.

A Tenant From Hell thinks that if it's the middle of the winter the bathtub in their duplex is a totally appropriate location to light off fireworks.

Had I been more vigilant checking in on the place I would have noticed the broken window and leaking bath tub.

The difference between an illegal apartment and an office is I took out the stove in the kitchen, replaced the big fridge to a small fridge, and took out the bathtub and put in a closet.

Post a ad for tile if you putting tile on the floors and bathtub surround.

In fact, just because someone acts "crazy" doesn't mean they are literally mentally unstable.When a tenant uses the bath tub for a toilet and literally fills it with human waste, I will share that story with other Landlords just like a Doctor might share stories of the objects found lodged in a patient's rectum.

Another time, a tenant let me into their place and showed me a leaky kitchen faucet that had dripped down to the apartment below and caused water damage, along with a few other minor issues like long tears in the carpet, a broken drain in the bathtub, leaky windows and sliding glass door...  

Hopefully, the bath tub is in good shape and that will definitely help If you are going to keep the tiles and paint (which is the only way I think you can stay in that 1500 budget) I would get a new counter top/sink/light fixtures, updated mirror/faucet, remove the shade.

The bath tub was also backing up, about a half an inch of gray water lined the bottom.