If It's real old you might have clay pipe or galvanized going to the street and have galvanized inside of the property.This goes back to did he just tie into old stuff in the wall for new kitchen and bath or actually fix everything comment.As far as not paying rent it is a DISEASE.The tenants all talk and when they say they haven't paid rent the rumors start to swirl.Maybe the owner doesn't care anymore,maybe management doesn't care,maybe the owner is in foreclosure,maybe a bank took it over etc.More of the tenants will not pay and a pattern will develop.This is why it is critical to always file for eviction no matter what.The tenant can always pay and stop the process.If you rule with an iron fist the tenants know and are conditioned to pay the rent.Some are like children always testing you to see what they can get away with.This is why if you don't do things the same way all the time it can send mixed messages to them.It's that one moment of weakness that they take advantage of you.

But that has an unusual pattern, suit would cover the whole area, not flow down unless washed down.I'll take door number one....the bees!

Second, the two PLRs had a specific fact pattern that generally requires some restructuring of the ownership of the property that you would want to build on, which may be deemed as a step transaction unless you have some seasoning (time).

. :-)Here's what I would assume based on it being an 1100 sq ft home.3bdrm, 1.5 bath.So a full gut:1) 10 windows = 5k2) Siding = 4k3) HVAC 4 to 5k (furnace and a/c)4) Electrical (rewire and new panel) = 4k5) Plumbing = 3k to 5k (assumes crawl or basement - if slab, this price is much higher) depending on if you're moving anything or not.6) Full bath with tile surround above tub (simple pattern) = 5k7) Half bath = 2,0008) Kitchen (cabinets and countertops) =6k9) Light fixtures = 1,80010) Roof = 4k to 5k11) Flooring (carpet for bedrooms and family room, tile for kitchen/dining, bathrooms and foyer and need durock under tile) = 5k12) Drywall reparis - 1k (I'm assuming you'll need some drywall work done but not necessarily have to resheet the entire house.

Do a herringbone pattern if you can.  

There are ways, under very limited fact patterns, that a quiet title may remove a validly *executed* mortgage, but that isn't necessarily validly *perfected*.Either way, talk to an attorney OP.

Once you see a pattern of costs/ft - I would use this number. it's not the same as a real BPO or appraisal method- but in slow moving areas - it may be all you have to make sure you don't overprice a rehab. 

For the landlord, you should also ask the amount of rent and how many times they paid late (rather than if they paid late - frequency / patterns are what you are trying to understand).

Poke around in Zillow's recent home sales data and you'll eventually start to see patterns.

Not sure if you've seen this already but here is a great study on the topic called "Patterns of Lost 2-4 Unit Buildings in Chicago" published about a year ago.