We do some cosmetic improvements to bring homes to our standard, typically carpet and paint, upgrade lighting etc.

If you can’t quantify risk and don’t understand the mechanics of “weighted” average of expected return and range of returns (standard deviation) then you are at a severe disadvantage and should consider a competent investment / financial manager for your investment capital.  

Unfortunately, the price is pretty standard (average) for the Cascais Centro area and we had already worked the owner down from 1200. 

We were able to get standard mortgage financing How did you add value to the deal?

Since posting your listing on multiple platforms had no downside for such a long time, this "post your listing on every platform because why not" became a standard of how to run your STR.

My cost to build a 900 sf to 1,200 sf container home is about $90 / sf and that cost comes down in a production environment where materials can be purchased in quantities and the workforce is working on a standard floorplan with multiple units in process simultaneously.

I am above 50% on standard Visa/MC, below 50% on Amex, and about 0% with anything that is like a local credit unions. 

Then trim into standard small lengths. 

Charlottesville permitting is usually a nightmare and I can tell you that if you are trying to do something like that fully up to code then the city's standard is going to be more or less the same as a normal house/structure.

It was a standard loan.