You'll need both to be present or to be near coming to market during the time the contract between you and your buyer is consummated so that you can not only justify the pricing but also get your home appraised for the value needed to obtain financing for the buyer too.If you see the upgraded comp selling as an example for 25,000 more but the upgrade cost to do the work is 10,000 then you may have a 15k spread given everything else is apples to apples, same.

@Austin Fruechting  my safari is acting up and I was using chrome I am on my apple lap top and I hate this thing.I will try safari and see what works..

@Steve Apple For what it's worth, I think you're putting the cart before the horse.  

Apples and oranges -- HCAD valuation shouldn't enter the picture as a value basis when negotiating a real estate transaction 

We kept everything else apples-to-apples starting with assuming we’d look at houses valued at $125,000, to capex %, rent %s, annual appreciation all being the same.

Most lenders are, I'll say, generally the same assuming you're comparing apples to apples.

Cost to build in your area by the sq. ft. will be different than other areas, so comparisons may not be apples to apples.

Granted, it's not real estate so there's no apples-to-apples comparison but I'd be curious as to why you'd choose those search engines instead of Google.

I'd shop around and get an apples to apples comparison and source your own materials to see if you can get a lower bid from another contractor.

If you make it through the wall of text that follows, and you have even the smallest insight to offer, I would so very much appreciate it.My wife and I are rapidly learning the ways of wise REI through the help of the BP forums, podcast, books, as well as attending local REIA meetings, networking, market research, and driving for dollars.We've arrived at what I feel is a major pivot point in our lives, and are struggling with the multitude of circumstances life is throwing our way, trying to figure it all out, and set some reasonable goals so that we can move forward in a clear defined direction.I'm going to lay it all out in brutal detail in hopes that someone can make any sense of this and possibly offer some guidance.OUR CURRENT STATUS:I have a day job as an engineer, a freelance business on the side in which I design products for clients around the country, as well as a fading IOS app development company.My wife has a small house cleaning business, and she takes care of all the household management, as well as just being assigned as power of attorney over her Grandfather's estate.We have zero savings, but are on track to be completely debt free in two years on our current plan.