I usually do not buy from big box stores but did just buy a carpet HD had but did NOT buy their pad.

Its appraised at $300,000 and we owe about $220,000. we are currently renting out that property as a rv pad to a friend of mine for $750.I'm a ticketed carpenter with around 10 years of experience and make about $85,000 a year.

@Shelly Glennon  It is not unusual for large corporate tenants to have agents do their lease renewals and get pad a commission for it.

my scenario was a little different I would buy 20 to 80 acre parcels in Oregon and WA.. then log them .. using the skids roads and log landings strategically ( put them were future driveways and house pads would go). then do short plats  4 lots or less.. then sell the lots on contract.. the logs generally paid for the land so we had no debt on the land .. most land buyers took a few years to get to the point they were ready for construction loans..

Like once we found that a tenant moved a gutter downspout, eroded the soil under heat pump pad and caving in enough to shortly damage the heat pump.

We put a lot of efford and attention into keeping basements dry, but we still have an occasional pipe burst or sump pump fail and see issues and when you get water in a basement; carpet can be dried and cleaned, it's the open cell pad that is holding on to gallons of water like a kitchen sponge.

Everything on Google says charging for labor not performed, or "padding," is never legal.

Or are you saying if you were calculating it this way , you would always place a offer on the pad portion only bringing that price down to $281,250?

I have one client with a shared housing  pad split and those are really tough to get financing on I would refi first before you pad split.

She got a great job but it wasn't permanent but it was the launching pad for the job that she now has in a different city (4 hours away).