See if there's a way to fit one of those in there also.You will also have to be careful of minimum square footage per bedroom space permitted in your jurisdiction by building code, as well as minimum window size for egress purposes in case of a fire.

Maybe you need to fork over a few thousand to run a market study in the zip codes you really like?

Barring some complications (such as her having sold her previous home recently), you should get the full $500k exclusion, but you will need to pay tax on $30k of accumulated depreciation.

And did this realtor violate any codes?

I believe the Iowa market would have similar code requirements.

I understand that this is easier said than done but is the bar really so low for PM's?

The average person should be able to read a law/code/statute and understand what actions are illegal for him/her to perform.

A handy search bar in the upper right makes it easy to find previous discussions, blogs, podcasts, and other resources.

What's your criteria and preferred zip codes when buying?

Since the meter box was a 60amp box, they have to bring it up to 100amps according to the code.