For example:• 2 blocks down from the second largest hospital in the area so perfect for traveling nurses.• Needs lots of new paint, floors, wallboard, plaster repair, fixtures, and updated appliances.3.

I also suffer from 'nice-guy-itus.' so I feel your pain.

The owners are feeling pain from their property it could be the children who inherited the property, poor management leading to deferred maintenance, vacancies, and many other inefficiencies.Most owners in this spot are looking for a way to end the pain they are feeling and many will take a path that solves their problems and gives them something in return to justify the sale.

If your lender is being a pain about that, then it's best to heed their advice and if/when you re-fi make it into a DSCR or nonQM loan to have your LLC as the real title holder. 

The most successful D class or 100% section 8 project I ever ran into was in Hattisburg MS. the original owner built about 20 little stand alone units  on the property and each was built with cinder block so very minimal sheetrock inside.. concrete floors throughout with drains in the middle ( kind of like you see bathrooms in Asia and other parts of the world . 

His other course, Buy the Block, is for more seasoned investors.

I'm looking for some rule of thumb numbers to understand the costs.Price LF  Footings:Price SF Slab Break and Replace:Price CY excavation:Price Block or SF - Block Foundation Walls:Assume a 5 stage underpin as well.  

There are plenty of block that are still rough you can't sugar coat that, but projects such as the Pennovation Center and the Bellwether District are set to bring tons of new jobs and value to the area.

For example, the same house that is one or two blocks over on a quiet street should be more expensive. 

Good old fashioned calling someone up, sparking a conversation and finding out their motivation/pain points is definitely more effective than mailers.