Mainly I’m trying to avoid “aged poorly design” glassblock walls, small bedrooms, older windows (wood/aluminum, single pane), aluminum patio covers, and to a lesser extent landscaping.

If you ask nicely and promise not to share, you can usually get good financial information on the properties that are currently operating as a STR.If you're just starting out looking, you may not be aware of just how many cabins out there are poor quality builds due to the lack of codes.

Here is a list of what adding ADUs, especially in single family zoned areas,  in my CA market is typically a poor RE investment:1) The value added by the ADU addition is often significantly less than the cost of adding the ADU.

I have been poor very poor living off food banks and pawning items just to eat for a day and do it again.

Poor lighting.

Nevertheless, both scenarios require your attention and defending against those claims could very well cost more than $2K.One of, if not the leading cause for dispute between contractor and client is poor communication.

The cash flow is poor for this value of an asset and my equity position.  

Quote from @John Mucilli: Quote from @Justin Stamper: Great marketing, poor software.

You are correct that insulation is almost certainly a bigger bang for the buck in a heating climate.

I got a quote for 8K sft retail from a construction company for around $120/sft, this includes site prep, utilities, metal building erection, exterior finishes, interior insulation etc (basically build the shell from scratch).