I would try to avoid paying capital gains now and then buy more RE in a few years as the taxes paid would have been a good chunk toward another property.One thing FOR SURE I would barely consider is the cost of doing a 1031 exchange.

Fast forward to today, the land is pretty bare; has power lines on it, but nothing else.

The home is essentially bare bones, with the wood being in good shape but requiring new drywall, flooring, a full kitchen rehab, a full bathroom rehabs, electric work, and repair of the septic system outside.The total rehab cost is estimated to be around $150k-$200k, and I'm wondering if hard money lenders typically finance a deal that requires this much remodeling costs and still fund 100% of the rehab.

In another post I beat the Training vs Education horse to death, so I'll just post the bare bones idea.

Nearly every single one was barely break even when I initially purchased them though

However, a 1% RTV in the DFW is barely cash flowing because of relatively high property taxes, BUT may still be a great investment.

I usually pay about $2.50/sq ft for hardwood refinishing (sanding to bare wood and 2-3 coats of oil based poly)).

However, 99.9% of the math you'll need to be able to do with real estate you will have learned by 8th grade.The real estate agent that just sold our house in NY could barely bang out an email and it would have killed her to have needed to add two 5 digit numbers together.  

Bare minimum, start with filing a BBB complaint.  

I always challenge that strategy with 2 points: 1) That is what everyone is looking for, so that is where you will find the most competition, and that is why you can buy "fixer uppers" for barely any discount off of retail. 2) From a renovation standpoint, I find those deals MORE risky than a full gut and redo.