It isn't a matter of questioning the percentage of gross rent that I should be saving for those expenditures, nor the raw amount - rather, it's about what upgrades, appliances, physical modifications, etc., truly end up being worth throwing down extra money for in the beginning. 

One was raw land, which I improved and sold. 

What about all the poor Chinese miners that are being poisoned half a world away mining raw materials for solar cell production?

My limited experience with improving both raw land and any construction, is that it will take much longer than your worst case estimate, and cost much more, too. 

And welcomed.If the best you can offer on a $220,000 property is $45,000, you're p*ssing in the wind, if you'll forgive the vulgarity.Look for something cheaper.I made a decent profit on raw property in WA state many years ago. 

One was raw land in WA state, and the other a condo in CA.  

The raw data is valuable if you understand how to utilize it ... a score by itself is almost meaningless ...

They told me that with partially or fully vacant property they usually calculate the value based on raw $ per square foot, not income.  

Since it does sound like you are still pretty "Raw" that you should pick one of those areas of investing and really try to drill down on how to work that.

Like I said before, My name is Kyle Gibson and I own a company that specializes in conceptual marketing of raw land.