I’ve recently finished reading J Scott’s “The Book On Flipping Houses” and found it to be extremely helpful in understanding most aspects of a fix and flip project.

The deal can make sense even if it doesn't meet some arbitrary "rule"  Thanks for the insight, everything you guys are saying has been extremely helpful.

And if you base an offer price on that, you'll likely have an extremely difficult time getting any traction. 

Although I probably get killed on transaction fees which is part of why I am not pulling the trigger (along with lack of time to execute well).There are games you can play for increasing your returns in the stock market (sector rotations, rebalancing, being a good company picker) but you lack operational control. 

Specific technical issue that triggered this post.

There is some financing available but it's rarely used, as it's extremely difficult to make a deal profitable given the lending conditions.

Your best bet is to get on the phone, get multiple opinions, multiple quotes, and make decisions on the type of build before pulling the trigger.

Me and my clients all use a low money down conventional mortgage (as low as 5% down) with NO PMI and extremely low closing costs. 

Converting a traditional IRA to a Roth triggers taxes on the converted amount, so plan accordingly.

I am starting my real estate investing journey and looking at the Cleveland area for out of state properties and this is extremely helpful.