How much upfront costs are typically involved in a project before you know if it's a viable project to pursue? 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Recommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?

Quote from @Scott Trench: @Scott Johnson we typically don't delete forum posts, and I don't see a reason to make an exception here. 

Lock-out, should they continue to not come even, would be typically less than 14-days.Unless the tenant comes even with the rent (which would result in dismissal of the non-payment of the case), there is generally limited defense to this process.

Issues 1) even garage conversion ADUs in single family zoned areas typically cost more to build than the value that they add.  

So, a house that would typically cost $100 per sq. ft. to build 5 years ago, is now costing $200 per sq. ft. 

Everybody who invests in Southeast Mexico, including myself, knows that the typical property doesn't offer ROI upwards of 10%-15% but way less.

Most out-of-state investors looking at Detroit are typically focused on cash flow, which means they're usually targeting C or C+ neighborhoods.

If this is the case then typically you only have to comply when you make alterations.2.

What you will find is they typically appraise for far less than the hands off cost to add the ADU.