When you buy something you want to take a picture of the receipt right then and be able to allocate it.  

The type of lender I am picturing is someone who is just writing a check and outside of that is not involved in the day to day of the property.For the basics, a figurative property that costs $500,000 that is a commercial property would require a nominal 25% down payment or $125,000.

But for discussion sake and since a picture is worth 1000 words, here are some images of what I am talking about:And this is the property right next to it which is overgrown:So in general, I'm trying to find out whether the first is a case of just being better off knocked down, or how else would I play this if rehab is over my head.  

And there are very few similar properties to what I was picturing. 

Look for poorly written craigslist ads with 1 picture or none at all, those are usually your mom and pop landlords and usually older and ready to retire, especially if its a student rental! 

I will take pictures and post it here.

A small piece of advice put it back on the market with pictures of what the end Is going to look like to start generating interest and possible offers so that way it can be sold once the rehab is done.

It just throws you off completely.This is my opinionGo walk the property ideally with your agent and your contractor, take a billion pictures and let your agent and contractor tell you their numbers and make an offer.There really is no "short cut" or an "estimate" way of doing this.We are talking about flipping.

If you're in a hot market, I would put up an ad 1 week before you take possession going over all the details (be sure to include as many pictures and description as possible).

The longer you throw good money after bad, you will just sink like that rowboat...and right out of the picture (REI picture).Much like playing Poker, the most important rule to follow, is to "stay in the game".