I personally would try to use line items to break this down (ex. snow removal, landscaping, etc).  

I can't remember anymore what it was, but there was one item that we were just like "what the hell?"

Marian - A $1000 total is a very resonable price, and most will split the fee between the sale and purchase, so if you do not end up identifying, you are only spending a portion of the fee.A GOOD QI will answer all of your questions, explain the process, and explain the tax code, prepare the exchange agreement and other necessary documents as per the IRS regs, setup an account for your exchange funds, have security measures in place to be sure your funds are secure, prepare exchange documents for your purchase, review your closing statements to be sure there are no items that may cause you a tax consequence, fund your closing, keep you updated through the exchange with account statements.Most importantly they will be bonded, insured and know what they are doing.

Or deducted over the time frame of the items purchased.  

One of the best ways for you to come up with a rehab budget is go into the house and make a list of all the items you want to have fixed.

Here is the list of items I use when evaluting the numbers on any 2-4 unit property:Taxes (included in PITI)Sewer and WaterTrashHeat/UtilitiesHOACap Ex and Ops (my personal minimum is $150/roof/month)Insurance (included in PITI)Mgmt Fee - as a % (general consensus here on BP is 10%. include it even if you think you are going to self manage)Vacancy- as a % (8% represents 1 vacant month/unit/year)

All of those items can become expenses the Mortgagee takes on in order to preserve the value of the property securing the loan and protect the liens priority.  

A lesson for us all to watch for back doors through the leases.We closed on it last week with a negotiated $1 bill of sale for a few of the items and 30 days for the seller to remove everything else.  

If she has had trouble with collections, debt collectors, etc., then you should probably do the refi now.  

My expectation is to have a minimum of $1M working and get that amount higher over time.My exit will be any number of the following: Note matures, borrower pays off early, sell all or portion, note becomes NPN and foreclose or deed in lieu.As exits come earlier than the full term, returns increase, they negative is that I must find new notes to re-invest that principle and portion of interest.Now, on the flipping topic, I can't say with an absolute fact that each and every item of expense I put into each rehab flip gets me both my money back and a return on that capital, but it is pretty hard to argue with success and I have been successful doing this for many years on very high dollar figures.