What sort of policy are you compsring them with to make you think the premium is unreasonable?

If it's day one then it will add a premium for being open to investors, unless the concentration of investors is too high and the building isn't warrantable... then that would hurt you. $900 month from 500K equity doesn't sound great.

A new build will garner a premium vs a resale and you can really build the house to fit what the market demands today.Run the numbers and time on both and see where you stand and what makes more sense.

Only a very small fraction of available homes are truly waterfront, and they command a premium. 

Gastonia is starting to get quite pricey and while I don't think I would be buying in at the top of the market, I would certainly be buying in at a premium.

@Jackson LongA Pro or Premium account is required to be able to change your forum signature settings.

He pays cash, fixes them up and charges a premium rent.  

Given the current market, I might end up paying premium to buy a house now and might find it difficult to sell it later if market is not so favorable. 

Plus the chance that premiums a can go up after such an incident that could have been prevented had they took that tree down?! 

Again contractors charge premium if you tell them you had a disaster.