If you have a couple deals underneath your belt I would suggest asking for more back on the deal since you are taking the bulk of the work.

It is exactly the same as buying a regular single family home.....you own the land underneath the town home, you own the structure and any repairs/maintenance to Your house are yours.....just like a regular house.

She had a handyman helper, Kevin, who knew how to take down walls (and recognize which ones were weight-bearing) and could also complete the roofing largely by himself, but she and Mike knew that the wiring should be left to an expert and budgeted accordingly.She and Kevin started with the floors, taking up the decades-old carpeting and revealing the original hardwood floors underneath—some of which was salvageable and some that needed to be replaced.

The framing underneath seems to be in good condition.  

Once you locate land, there's engineering that needs to be done (civil, soils, electrical, environmental, structural, etc.) environmental issues may need to be addressed, availability of utilities and proximity to parcel, cost of grading, installing utilities, paving, sidewalks, parcel maps or possibly subdivision map.

Insurance  wind and hailas long as one takes these factors into account with your capex and long term ownership and buys accordingly you get real numbers were I see out of state folks get a little sideways is they don't understand expansive soils.. and they buy when the house has owner exemption only to have their tax's about double on them next year.  

The assessment may include a civil engineer looking at the feasibility to gravity feed sewer or need for grinder pumps or a more costly pump station, assessing soil types for building suitability, wetland restrictions or conservation area requirements that may affect the buildable area, assessing zoning and municipality temperament for zoning changes, and maybe at an additional cost a soil test for onsite septic if sewer proves to be unavailable or too costly.

I know in California we do.You can alway get a engineer soil survey.

If tiling a kitchen floor with Allure TrafficMaster tiles (vs thicker ceramic tiles), is it better to tile underneath cabinets if they are already removed, or not to bother and save a bit on material and labor costs?

My wife and I owe nothing on our home and her hair salon next to our house, would it be smart to have those properties underneath our LLC or should I leave it under our own names?