Guessing how much a construction project is by square footage is a sure fire way to be 100% wrong every time.5.  

Your desired commute time to midtown, square footage and price point would help narrow things a lot more.  

Typically, in Cape Coral, most of these older duplexes are going to have close to the same square footage per unit as the new construction properties, about 1,150-300 square feet for a 3/2.

In Dallas, you got land, serious square footage and a instant return on your investment because you can pay it off quicker if that's your goal.

There are also square footage limits on the number of guests allowed.

That's the value of an agent who goes hard in the paint on due diligence.Now, an example of an agent thinking creatively and seeing a value-add opportunity that everyone else missed: There was a house that had been on the market for a long time, and the reason was obvious: it was only a 2 br 1 ba house, and the floorplan was very, very weird, so nobody wanted it...however, my agent spotted that the listing had unusually large Sq footage, so we went to check it out...10 minutes after walking into the house, my agent says "we can turn this loser into a winner".

I like to find 2 bedroom SFH that have enough square footage to remodel to create a 3rd bedroom.

So, where before you could only have a single family home, you can legally have an additional unit.It isn’t a duplex because the rules around it are a little different and the ADU has to truly be accessory to the house, usually limiting its square footage to 1/2 that if the house and no more than 1,200 square feet regardless of the house square footage.

The ADU in the appraisal had adjustments for Br, Ba, and square footage.  

They may give you a cash out exception BUT the appraisal is going to be your problem- if sale was market arms length transaction you may need to show what improvements you completed and appraiser is going to look at comps in past three months that are same square footage, condition, lot size and proximity ...