Increasing your construction budget by a small amount can have an enormous impact on your overall construction budget, productivity and site safety/insurance premiums.

Are you asking a STR "premium" for the property?

If you win, they want you to win and they will set you up to bid high and fail.If you are talking about online actions, those come with a 5-10 percent buyer premium and often get ghost bid up and relisted until it hits their reserve.

@Pat McQuillan For your out-of-state investment property, you can maximize tax write-offs by deducting mortgage interest, property management fees, maintenance, repairs, travel expenses for property-related business, and landlord insurance premiums.

It's actually a trend in a lot of places near Destin, where you're close to the action but not paying the premium of being right on the beach.Freeport has a lot going for it, especially if you’re looking for good rental income without the high price tag of being right on the coast.

You will have higher premiums if the property is not operating within a formalized 503c nonprofit entity. 

Often overlooked is the premium for storage space in the city.

**Population Density and Demand**: In areas with high population density and ongoing demand, rental units can command premium rents.

You also will not be able to see the house and no one should buy sight unseen without a history of doing it.If you are talking about Auction dot com or Xome or Hubzu, those come with a buyer's premium on top of the sale price between 5-10% and often have ghost bidders in the system so you will see it keep getting reset to hit a higher bottom.As a new(er) investor, auctions are where you go to lose money and take on excessive risk.

But I am open to it if I can use the security deposit to replace the carpet (not sure to what extent it is legal).I was thinking of getting landlord rental protection from Zillow to cover pet costs but my premium will probably shoot up since the place is carpeted.Would love your thoughts on this dilemma!