It's not like HGTV when a scene cuts and now the floors, and plumbing are magically finished.

These reports can give you an edge by highlighting areas with significant planned developments.Property Analytics: CoStar provides detailed analytics on properties and their surrounding areas.

Many sellers are having to make huge price cuts to sell flips and/or new construction, so be careful there.With your buying criteria, Daytona area is still a great market with strong numbers. 

However it would not be something clear-cut, so it comes with risks, restrictions, and it certainly requires a much deeper conversation than we can entertain on this forum. 

Almost no body told us about Root barrier, which are simple digging  about 2-3 into the ground, near your foundation to cut invasive  tree roots. 

We can do some of the legwork ourselves to cut cost - we have flipped houses and built two new homes before but we had the misfortune of starting in 2005 and ending very abruptly in 2008. 

Or do we just cut our losses and keep her deposit?

I’m not trying to cut costs, as we all know how important this can be.

The maximum the bottom edge of the opening can't be higher than 44" off of floor. 

Cutting your losses even if the 1:1 is a cheaper solution today is missing the forest for the trees.