Purchase price: $181,094 Cash invested: $170,000 Sale price: $500,000 Contributors: Alaa Musleh Renovation in progress...

They have progressively been charging the fee over the last few months in different markets.  

As a general rule, if you do work to improve the building it increases the assessed value.But the amount could be negligible in the end and there could be a delay of a year or more until it affects the assessment/taxes.For example, if the assessed value increased by $10,000, taking into account the 40% discount on assessed value for owner occupants and applying the tax rate of 24.56, would only result in $147 more tax per year.

Why bother getting a tax abatement is his assessment doesn't go up.

@Mark CooperThe cost of the appraisal will save you more money in taxes then if you were to use the county assessment.

They ended up taking the offer; we had a mold assessment done after they moved out, which proved no mold, and now we have a happy and low maintenance renter! 

You have certainly made some progress on the path that you are on and continuing to grow that portfolio is a good move. 

Can anyone chime in on how to best assess this situation?

We have healthcare (Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals), insurance (Progressive), financial institutions (Key Bank), and of course the Amazon warehouses that have been widely talked about. 

If it's a great deal, it might be worth paying an expert to assess how you can mitigate the flood damage.