Depending on how you finance, maybe better to pay soft costs such as value engineering, architect and surveyor yourself even if you have equity and even if the lender will finance the soft costs.

Soft cost like architect, permits etc I would maybe budget another $20/sf.I would start w/ the architects, talk to three or more, get an idea on the soft costs, and ask them for referrals for developers or construction companies.

Anyways, I am looking for advice and asking those who have more experience and knowledge than myself.The property in question (located in SW Michigan) is quite distressed, missing walls, probable termite damage, damp/soft flooring, and probably many other issues. 

expecting a correction driven by Vancouver and the Toronto condo market over the next few years... look for Canadian real estate to be soft.

The central Texas market seems to be blowing and going this year although we are now in the end-of-summer downswing where families have moved prior to school starting and the action will be soft until next March.We're seeing a bunch of California/out-of-state investors coming in and buying SFHs which has put upward pressure on the prices of our extremely reasonably-priced homes.

several issues here:  personally have sub-par credit, have found hard $ options but have had great difficulty in finding money for rehab since generally hard money won't cover rehab which leaves me with approx 25% of ...

The yellow letter should be created as a soft sell- not a I BUY YOUR DISTRESSED HOUSE - in your face stuff.

Soft commitments and database nurturing are the key.

No couches, no soft chairs, no clothes closets and no brand new cars with the exception that I did buy my wife an $80,000 Mercedes SUV about 7 years ago for a present and today the car has less than 2,000 miles on it because she doesn't want to feel like she is showing-off to her friends and our tenants.

-Replacing just glass $150 w/ labor -Replacing whole window $300Sub flooring (holes/softness)... -$400 (not bad)-$1,000++Any big ticket items.... like A/C, water lines, electric issues, etc.?