It needs work, alot of labor..

Wow, thanks for all the info Joe.

Let's say that Joe Investor becomes aware of Steve's predicament.For this example, let's assume Steve owes $150,000 to Big Bank, and the property has an after repaired value (ARV) of $145,000.First, Joe Investor would ask for Steve's permission, in writing to contact Big Bank and discuss the loan with them.

Joe Investor comes in and offers to take care of his problem, and negotiates with the lender to buy for $130k.

If I have a contrat that says"Seller, Joe Shmo, hereby agrees to sell to Buyer, John Doe, or Buyer's nominee, the property set forth....."

Probably can't be measured in pure $$ but will make living there more enjoyable.Adding a bath is IMO (and statistically proven) a moneymaker, particularly if you can do most/all work yourself, partiuclarly the "finish" like tiling, because it's very labor intensive.IIRC single bath houses have been considered "technologically" obsolete since the early '80 by the Amer.

I was pretty thorough, but I have no idea as to what the materials and labor is going to cost.

Anyone want to take me in as cheap or even free labor???

I have a good friend who is a contractor, so I could get the labor done for pretty cheap.

On the down side when he calls at 9:00PM to tell you the dishwasher quit he doesn't want to hear about labor pains, he just wants to "see the baby".The $700/month tenants wil occassionally be late, they will always say "I was just getting ready to call you" when you call them, their checks might occassionally bounce but they'll likely be flexibel (up to a few days) on most "non critical" repairs.