Try and find a local mom and pop shop who doesn't have all this overhead and I bet you can shave at least 1 to 2k off the price...For any kind of CapeX I ALWAYS get at least 3 estimates...Sure it stinks to have to lay out this money all at once, hopefully you have a credit card you can finance at least a portion of it so you don't leave yourself with no cash reserves....30 years is fantastic to get out of a Central AC system...

Depending on the layout of the house, I would like to have a roommate or a renter in a partitioned section of the house.

It's simple to you and clean PDF layout.

One was on a nice street, had a nice layout, and didn't need that much work.

I'm curious to know what your 2 unit looks like as the converted rowhomes can be a little hard to work the layouts in. 

The kitchen had no place for a refrigerator with the current layout and it was poorly designed.

In terms of building sizes/layouts, what have you found to be the most economical?   

@Jon Kessler I wish they paid above market rent here :( Akron just passed a law that you can't discriminate on source of income so I tried it -- AMHA took 2 weeks to offer me $41 less than I've gotten on the last 3 rentals that I rented in the neighborhood (all the same size and layout).

A more modern kitchen layout may help if you are redoing a kitchen.

I buy everything so you don’t have to lay out anything, definitely.