Have you googled them or asked others how they did historically?

First - obviously the first step would be to bring in a good Contractor, preferably one that has some historic renovation experience.

Population growth, employment, wage growth, supply, etc. all have been following the same 5-year rolling historical average, so why the big jump in prices and rent this year? 

Use ratios as a sanity check along with broker OMs and historical financials, adjust taxes correctly and be very confident in your insurance number.Beyond that, you’ll need to conduct due diligence to fine tune the numbers further.

Now, with rates historically low, if I were to refinance would I need to refinance as a rental property and potentially so no improvement or even an increase in rate?

That said, doing a refi to pull your cash out while interest rates are historically low is a better longer term strategy for most in my opinion. 

Historic residential areas surround the area behind the commercial frontage on the four lane.

@Mike Dymski has historically given very good advice and is a friend of mine here on BP.

Historically, investors have used vacant rate of 10%, but with current low inventory expected to be a problem for 5+ years, many now use only 5%.Maintenance will vary between 5-20% depending on the the amount of deferred maintenance and property/tenant class.CapEx wouldn't worry about on an SFR.What cities are you looking in?

Paid in full rent properties have horrible returns, higher taxes, and higher liability exposure, without exception.Why would you not buy a lot more properties and use leverage at historically low rates to boost your cash flow tremendously?