Plus, the condition should match, if the house is going to require significant repairs it's probably more efficient to save for those and pay them off vs dump it all into the note.

I am in search of a Realtor in the area that has experience estimating repair/rehab costs, since I have 0 experience with this...I'm generally looking in the 145-180k for ARV , and 1.4k - 1.6k for rents. 

I have a SFH that my tenant just moved out of and in need of some repairs.

Here are my "readers digest version" numbers and explanation:Property: 3/1.5 SFHPurchase Price: $59kReno budget: $20k (went over a little so will actually end up around $22k)appraisal: $105k as isARV: $125k (estimate per appraiser based on repairs/ reno list provided)Current Mortgage: $431/ month (20% down on purchase price, 100% finance of repairs 20 year am. with 5 year balloon at 5.25% commercial loan)Rent estimate: $1050/ monthThe commercial lender should let me cash out up to 80% of the after repair appraisal as long as my DSR is above 1.2.   

  $500 per door for estimated repairs seems reasonable given the -somewhat- recent renovations. 

When you calculate your cap rate (NOI - net operating income / Purchase Price) do you include your closing costs and initial repairs in your calculation or do you just go with the actual purchase price and leave those costs out?

I would intern at what ever real estate companies your interested in.My daughter was interested in finance.. and she interned during collage with a high level appraisal company that did apprasing for emanate domain cases.. and she worked on the one in Napa CA were the state and city bought out a big swatch of the napa river for flood control project and many business had to be relocated from hotel to shopping center to car dealer all of them needed to be valued.. it was high level work she enjoyed it.she then went on to graduate top of her class at Davis CA.. in managerial economics degree and promptly got snapped up my Intel after offers from Apple and Micro soft.now 14 years later she is a SEnior controller and a Dave Ramsey disciple which means at her age home just about paid for 2 kids in grade school and NO debt and a ton of savings and max's out her 401k.. she has little interest in real estate she owns one rental but only rents it to family. that was her path.  

Calculate your bottom line using 70% of ARV (After Repair Value).Do not spend more than (.7*ARV)-RC (Repair Costs)Example: House is appraised at $100,000 *if repairs are made*...7*100k = 70k.Repair costs are expected to be $25k. 70k-25k = $45,000 (DO NOT BUY THE HOUSE IF IT IS OVER $45k)Take another look at the ‘going rate’ of rent in your area, make sure your cash flow is enough to cover ALL costs and include a buffer for taxes and unexpected repairs.Look at the property yourself - try to eliminate assumptions.Have a trusted professional assess and confirm info about repairs that may have been overlooked.Look at how much work you can do on your own and compare it with contractor rates to complete all repairs.

If the answer to that question is no then the repairs that you made to the property are capitalized and depreciated once it is placed in service.

No repairs (new paint, any sort of updates you want to do once you buy it, etc.)?