Your costs you might not think of are insurance, water, sewer.

Even if we did tear down and rebuild, im afraid it would put us under water or at a break even point if we are super strict with the build budget- plus adding to that, I don't know how the rehab lender would even look at this now if we do have to tear down.

The roof and the floors were not huge costs to us the buyer, as the seller filed an insurance claim for water damage just prior to our offer closing.

Here I'm thinking it'll be easier because there was literally a house there before and there's already electric, sewer, water and gas at the street to connect to. 

He didn't have time to come out for 2 weeks but said high consumption is almost always the HVAC or water heater. 

Is it common place to call the utility companies to get information on electric, gas, water and garbage pick up?

strictly read, the city of Austin requires a permit to spray foam insulate around an outdoor water hose bib...because it improves or repairs a structure.  

Other than that, there may or may not be a water main, sewer hookup, or electric at the site. 

So far, I've installed vertical blinds for the sliding glass doors, covered the lanai with mesh and added a whole-house water conditioner, which also includes the reverse osmosis system for the drinking water.What was the outcome?

And if it's an over-priced thing (based on sizzle & marketing), I will send my clients to service providers who provide the same or better quality, minus the mark-up for sizzle.