Good Morning BP folks,  I have a SFR (3bd/1bath) under contract that has heavy smoke damage. 

For close in neighborhood demographics, go to a few of the local Grocery stores and sit in the parking lot Friday night after dark, Saturday morning, and Sunday afternoon.Look at the people, and how they are dressed, look at their cars and trucks--guess their income level.

Get motion-detection light-up floodlights, it's getting dark earlier now.

an damaged microwave , it smoked from overdraw with running 2 freezers off a unauthorised surge strip outlet on 15 amp an extreme overloads with 6 strip outlets an wires running out door [ many major  fire codes violations] Can the cost on electrician ,that proved the circuits were overloaded   - [an he warned her on nec an fire  codes  an dangers of her overloading outlets, an  the wires going out front door]    on that 15 amp she illegally ran a strip outlet w freezers  an other circuit w 15 plugs on 1 -- be deducted along with the microwave replacement cost since it popped an smoked kicking breaker by her unauthorised freezers?

If your in the Chicagoland market 12% is the going rate unless your lender is family or friends.  8% would be a smoking deal as @Rick Pozos mentioned.  

There are tons of vacant dark buildings with land already to go.When you have raw land you have to work against the existing and future land use plan, zoning, what the city wants if in the limits, what the county wants, what the public wants, what the tenants want, what the developers want.

It has original hardwood floors that are a dark color that either need to be refinished or have new laminate flooring installed on top of them.

Curious to see what 2021 brings...We are getting a lot of residential relocation clients from the southwest - number one reason I hear is smoke from fires, followed by cost of living and fresh water.

Literally contractors hear people talk like that all the time and 90% of the time they're blowing smoke to try and justify that they should be charged less than a "normal customer".

change batteries on the smoke detectors, change HVAC filters...