There have been multiple failed attempts by the city and others to revitalize this area in the past, resulting in very little progress.

I know as investors we like to use formulas to help us evaluate but sometimes you just need to put everything down and look at the situation:  Originally posted by @Brandon Hall: It's a four-plex with 3 of the units being 2/1's and one unit is an efficiency with a kitchen, living room and bathroom.

You should evaluate it just like any other. 

My in-progress rehab will hopefully hit that, and I think I'll be satisfied at those numbers as it's a mostly OO neighborhood with expected steady appreciation.Without knowing details of your market, I'd probably shoot to be all in at a max of $100-110K.

Or just evaluate each rehab independently?

From my own experience, I've had a progression that changed as my personal reserves and risk tolerance ability changed.

SEO companies are also super vague on what they are doing, so making sure they aren't just taking your money for nothing is hard to do without a few months/year of progress reporting. 

In this book it has evaluation reports, physical fitness tests, transcripts, etc.

Would love to hear if you have made progress in tax sales in the past 8 months.  

When you are confident that something is a good deal because you know the risks and understand them, you know the hidden costs and how to calculate them, you know what makes a good deal and how to evaluate one, then move forward.