The few crews available in town have been hammering away on new construction.

My income from these is greater than most people make by going to work each day.I did get hammered and lost a lot of money during the downturn. 

Still get the same short-term forced appreciation equity bump, but also save on taxes, gain the long term appreciation and cash flow so the property continues to pay you long after you stop swinging your hammer. 

@Lucas Hammer keep in mind that home repairs to your living space are usually not deductible, whereas the repairs to the rental portion are. 

I was hoping if you could help hammer out a better plan.  

Kygregor: great point...I've heard the 50% rule since I've been on this board...I've heard it hammered in my head over and over.

Maybe buy one for a dollar, and offer it to a homeless Italian person with a handful of garden seeds and a hammer and a saw (I wonder if Italy has many Homeless People who are not refugees like France has--what a Horrible problem they have in France with this.)Also it's so Odd in America with Section-8 being handed out like Candy to so many, that there are any homeless people in America.

When you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail.I don't care if the tenant is a coke-snorting stripper or a preacher by day and pimp by night; my advice has nothing to do with what they do in their personal life.

HI Brandon,600 sq ft... that's a 20 x 30 area.Time guesstimate to DIY with a Sawzall, a sledge, and some music playing, maybe 2 weeks (if can you handle a fast workload for that long).Not everyone can handle physical labor for that long though, but at $8,500 for 600 sq ft upstairs plus a basement, wow.The other side of this is how much of that $8,500 is for permits and dumpster, and how much for labor.I mean if your area is $6,000 for a permit and dumpster that only leaves $2,500 for labor.Apples to Apples, you know.Good Luck!

You can use a sledge hammer to break it into managable pieces.