@Wayne Brooks I was thinking of expenses like appliances, landscaping, other improvements that are not required to make the property ready but are added.On a related note, what if you cannot get a W9?

What would an "improved" cap rate possibly be?  

But there are a couple of ways that the improvement costs could be rolled into a 1031 depending on your specific situation.

I came across the entrepreneur & CEO Grant Cardone a few months back on YouTube who inspired me to take control early in my life of how I could become a successful person.  

It's not so much that what you're doing is improving inventory (because clearly you are) and yes - intuitively you would think that you would be exempt from sales tax.However, the issue isn't whether it's inventory or not, the issue is whether the end user is charged sales tax.  

Hey @Claire Batraville, I would definitely agree with @Lucas Machado.I'm sure you can find condo's in that price range, but you'll want to make sure your agent is doing good due diligence:You'll want to see: the condo budget, any planned HOA fee increases or assessments, upcoming improvements, delinquency ratio, etc...  

Working on improving your credit score is of course important.

If you want to improve your cashflow another 10%+ you should self manage.  

You should make this one of your first task when you settle in with your broker.You could also search YouTube to find educational videos on how to prepare a CMA. 

Also, tell me anything we could do to improve our chances.