I’ve been a GC who specializes in water damage restoration and reconstruction for 22 years.

•Flat roof was reconstructed into a pitched roof late 90s.Expenses/Month:Taxes $257Insurance $133All Utilities $239Lawn/snow removal $50/month•Appraisal Estimate through MidWest One hasit valued at $187,200 (see below).

Purchasing the other house to demo and reconstruct an 8-10 unit MFR would generate much more income for the long run, but we would have to put in a large initial investment and take quite a hit in terms of time.My main concern is that I have interest in demolishing the house and creating a multi family residential, but we are totally new to this so I don't think it'll be a great idea.

Hi Jason,Just some random thoughts on this to bring your knowledge up a little.Everyone is different in how they do this--sometimes the lender will dictate certain amounts for certain things.Some people ride motorcycles without a helmet, some always wear seat belts.It also depends on how deep you pockets are, a Policeman owning the same SFH as a Brain Surgeon might want to have more set aside just in case.Some make a CAPEX, list for their guesstimates of CAPEX outlays based on the HUD guidelines in years of service life remaining for each item.But in (for instance) areas of high winds, things like roofing replacements and insurance reimbursements complicate this.You need to budget for turn cost, and wear and tear also, (re: wear and tear; carpet physically wears out over time, vs. renter spilling red paint on it--where you would charge that to the renters security deposit).The costs in the future will either come from the renter or come from YOU, vacancies, wear and tear, equipment failures, etc...The ones that will come from you, need to be budgeted for--unless you have deep pockets and the amounts seem frivolous to your expendable income and you believe you can just cover them easily.Some people can afford to buy their secretary a new car for her birthday, some have their families huddling around the table eating one can of cold beans for dinner--Ole' one can of beans might not be able to meet the financial needs of CAPEX when it comes due unless he sets it all aside ahead of time.Good Luck!

If you have the building insured for less than the full reconstruction cost amount - say the estimated amount to rebuild is $150k and you have it insured for the same $100k - they will probably just cut you a check for the full $100k since you are insured for less that what it will cost to rebuild (the way it was not the newly required elevated construction)In addition to those examples above you could ask for loss of rent reimbursement and if you are forced to have extra cost to rebuild up to code (elevated) then you may have Building Ordinance & Law coverage that could pay something towards that extra expense.

Recently I was asked for a historical rent roll and we can't produce it - I can reconstruct by hand but very painful.

I now need to develope it and it is costing a little more than I thought due to the state DOT dumping a bunch of stormwater on it from 3 ditches for 1 mile each and 7 lanes of highway for 1 mile each.....this was not disclosed to me by the seller nor was there any easements for drainage recorded on this property when the highway was reconstructed 14 years ago adding these ditches and additional lanes of roads.Once it is developed to level buildable land, I will be selling the other piece for a decent profit but need to spend more than anticipated to take care of the drainage issues.  

What you seem to want is some 5 step program to do a deal, you can wait for some nit wit to post that may tell you something you'd like to hear, but there is no such thing, sorry.So, you want to do brain surgery and you want some surgeon to give you pointers in a forum of what to avoid.

However maybe you can find an angle to chaage the floorplan without massive reconstruction.

But for a standard purchase, it's a bit like hiring a surgeon to apply a band-aid.