I am aware that a major focus in doing rehabs and flips is to accurately assess the repair costs that are needed to rehab the property.In doing research, I have come across referrals to use the Craftsman Costbooks, but they have 3 options to choose from:• National Construction Estimator Costbook• National Home Improvement Estimator Costbook• National Renovation and Insurance Repair EstimatorDoes anyone know which of these 3 would be most beneficial, or should I consider purchasing all 3 versions?

Jeff Bridges you are pretty close in their assessment.

Are you putting anything down as that usually is the basis to assess your skin in the game and your expertice, the assurances of professional management of the deal gets you over most issues, IMO.

Just recently moved to Tampa, Fl from NYC where I had been working as a personal trainer the past dozen years.

I was born in NC but I've lived in a dozen or so states over the years.

. :-)Again, I'm not looking at this from an appraisal or a tax assessment or a marketing standpoint...those definitions of square footage are well defined (for most areas), but often unrelated to what it cost to actually build the structure.

Property tax assessment = $410K land, $40K improvements (building) = minimal depreciation deduction.Current home will rent for at least $2200, up to $2500.Mortgage on current home = $295K, $1350/mo.Property tax on current home = $550/moHomeowners Ins on current home = $75/moCurrent home will likely not go up in value very much over the next 3 years.So, is it a better financial plan to rent the current home, and be able to take tax deductions, and assume negligible effort as a landlord, or sell the home, and invest the ~$250K cash that will come out of the sale?

Unless you are buying at a discount, plan on taxes going up.I am not sure how Texas handles assessed values on property, but first you need to ask;1.

Thanks for your on-point advice and assessment of the situation (old flame, heh heh).That's the rub - I'm a novice and have no idea where to start (the land, etc).

I am sure I did but I suspect this covers 75% of it.I have only done a dozen deals over the past year, but everyone was a vacant house.