If market is soft figure one year and be ready to short term rent.

@Crystal Smith the property is a 900 sq ft soft loft condo in Printers Row.

Also, check for soft spots in the floors.

I moved to Orlando to get started as I had a soft spot for vacation rentals, and figured this was the best place in the US for that, and now I'm here with a real estate license, an active business that is booming, tons of great deals rolling across my desk every day (none that I'm an investor in) and no time to really develop my game plan... meanwhile, after long and hectic days working with clients who are buying, and having learned a LOT about the vacation market here, I'm wanting to invest, with no money laying around.

.$250 - $300 / sqft is what the vertically integrated builders are paying - since you're going to be hiring contractors you should budget $300 - $350 /sqft , which would cover soft costs (like permits, plans, and/or entitlements) and hard construction costs. 

@Jamie Wooley A desktop appraisal is a "soft" appraisal of the property where the appraiser doesn't visit the property in person, but they perform all other aspects.  

After that the market started going soft around the country for land development and building was slowing down.I switched focus to investment properties.

"Soft" costs like appraisals and legal fees don't have to come from your pocket.You don't have to do everything yourself.

When accounting for soft costs, I recommend that you plug in your own figures for vacancy, maintenance & cap ex.  

The last building, it was listed for $1.8M, needs $300-400k in deferred maintenance and soft story retrofit, went for $2.1M and I was surprised it didn't go higher.