I am looking into multi-family homes at the moment and am squaring away my business plan.

I guess to me it's a red flag.

Only improvements like new kitchens, baths, adding square footage, etc, really boost value. 

The reason could be different neighborhood, better schools, more square footage, less square footage, yard vs no yard, stairs vs no stairs.  

Surely half the square footage doesn't equal half the price??

FYI my current situation is:ME - FICO 665 middle score / $45k/yr income / $200/mo DEBTWIFE - FICO 650 score / $0 income / -$625/mo DEBTBROTHER - NO FICO - currently building / $30K income / $0 DEBTavailable max Down Payment $7,000PRO's Willing to purchase duplex / tri / fourplex in : riverside / rialto / pomona / ontario / san bernadino (no orange/red Crime map)price range : $180k - $450KREQUESTS: need atleast one unit to be 3 br *looking for value add* as well, After hearing the hundreds of first step methods, im finding it a bit hard to narrow down my search criteria. 2nd question is: After stating our current situation, what other strategies, loan programs or methods to begin our first Multi-Family buy and hold purchase would our current financial situation warrant reaping the most profit and least risk among this interest rising CA desert property market?

I'm new to biggerpockets.com and iv'e been watching bigger pockets podcasts since Feb 1, 2017, gathering information on investing in rental property. I have a mortgage broker that's helping me obtain my first rental, ...

@Steve Romano go to trulia.com - put in address and scroll down the addresses page - a crime report will color the mapped area surrounding the address in green (good), yellow (decent) or red (bad).

*********************************************B) 3 Duplexes - two story, 1990's construction with roofs less than 2 years old, HVACs less than 5 years old,, each side is a 1000 square feet 2 bedroom, 1.5 bath unit - $345,000 (or $115,000 each).  

Quote is in the 2.25 to 3.75 per square ft to do this, which will be well into the thousands.Anyone had experience with this and are there most cost effective ways to clean this up?