After the people moved out, and Junk King hauled 3 truck loads away, we filled a 40 year dumpster, just to get to the demolition stage.  5 dumpsters later we started reconstruction.  

It's a product comprised of labor cost, material cost, land cost, utilities, permitting, etc...In my market and most of the South East you can build a nice 2,500 sq/ft home for approximately $100 per sq/ft.Adjusting for higher wages and slightly higher material cost let's assume it cost $150 to reconstruct a home a home in your area.2,500 sq/ft x $150 per sq/ft = $375,000.Now you can deduct the new home value from the average price of a home in your market

Because we bought the property in late December and quite a bit of the work was on the exterior (roof, siding repairs, porch reconstruction and painting the entire house, porch and deck), we had to contend with the weather so it pushed things out a bit.  

RE...Construct has BEGUN...

Flash forward 10 years and most every building block of a home re/construction seems around TWICE the price it was just a decade ago. 

Everyone here at BP salutes your fortitude.I would contact some folks in the State Department, ask them who they use for urban planning and bomb site reconstruction.

Should I use this route or just mess with the bank and try to apply for a reconstruction loan??

In my experience, architects are not going to give you accurate costs, unless they've been around a long time.I would find local builders, or local insurance companies that cover housing related re-construction.

You need commercial property construction insurance because you are reconstructing the home for the next 2 months or so.Call A friendly Farmers Insurance agent and specifically ask for insurance to protect a home rehabilitation job site for 2 to 3 months till you're ready to sell or find tenants.Also get quotes from Allstate,State Farm,etc.

Many times mom and pops keep lousy records and comingle funds, which makes it difficult to re construct the books.