They usually aren't too expensive, take a demo, try one out with a free trial and go from there!

Rake up the yard, power wash the house, demo small things you know will be demo'd.

Of course as you mentioned you could also pursue the demo option and start fresh from there...though you've now paid for units that don't exist any longer. 

Thanks for your helpIt can take a long time to get a payout on an insurance claim. if you buy the property, you buy it for the value it has now, not when it's rehabbed.It will be really hard to get conventional financing on a property that has had a fire and isn't in livable condition.It's really hard to get the "burned" smell out of the property and that means a lot of demo and rebuilding and time and cost.You'd have to treat it as a new build with permits and certifications.You almost certainly will have expensive insurance since the structure has had a claim.It will have a reputation on the street for being "the house with the fire". 

My first vacation rental was a large 6 bedroom house that I rented from an investor I knew, he had bought it as part of a larger development project but wasn't scheduled to demo it for several years.

In fact they look like they will be starting demo soon, the dumpster just arrived today.  

Depends on level of finishes, quality of materials (Lowes vs. custom), and amount of demo.

That 40k has covered the demo of the house, dry wall, and handled most of electrical/ plumbing.

Im trying to do a mix of using a general contractor and licensed contractors but also doing some of the stuff like landscaping, painting, and demo on my own to save some money.  

Do you deconstruct to help with write offs or just demo and throw in the dumpster for your projects??