The assessor was very helpful, so helpful he called building safety for us on his own.The addition was never permitted, after purchase with the disclosed addition my wife hired a contractor specifically to bring the addition up to code, and also replace all the windows, add a new electrical panel, insulate and update a bathroom.

I know a few guys in that can guide me a bit in this area.I have also been to one REIA club meeting, it was pretty good and I learned a few things from the guest panel that was speaking that night, I plan on going to a few more soon.I have heard the advice about dealing directly with the listing agent before, I really should, because I do a lot of research on my own before I bring a property to my Realtor so she can get me in to take a look around.

Long story short, the city put together a panel from someone in planning, housing, fire and the public works department.

Hey BP it's Monday and that means it is time to start off the week with a simple tip: Always have a professional check the electrical panels.

For instance different types of panels work well. 

If you have a hack repair done to an electric panel, know about issues while taking no action and the house catches fire and people are injured or die.

I do update the panel on these properties if they still have fuses but leave the wiring as is.

@Nagesh PulipatiI don't know much about Newmark but I recently attended a multi-family conference in the area and they were one of the speakers on a broker's panel, which indicates they are also a player in the area.

You may have a nice amount left over depending on size of house and the efficiency you choose (rental vs resell) but $5k is the number I use for all of those.I just bought a REO that had the AC unit missing and access panels were removed from the furnace-didn't look like they did damage to the furnace, just like they thought about taking it or parts out of it too.

The actual work request and bids were for the same house, the same exact job/material request for the most part:Replace Roof (5 bids). 3600, 3800, 4600, 4700, 6110Upgrade Electrical Panel to 200A (5 bids): 950, 1185, 1250, 1400, 1400Vinyl Siding (3 bids): 6500, 11000, 12650Replacement Windows (2 bids): 5600, 7500The range for the combined work for these 4 jobs alone is over $11,000.This says nothing about the quality of the job that will be provided by each contractor, but as stated it is all for the same house, the same work request, and the same or comparable material/grades.