30K would buy you a C grade property in memphis but I would use it to be 50% down including closing costs and buy a solid B grade property in the high 50's paying you $900 (or more) a month.

I have lived in California from 8-12 grade and a couple of years after college.

I'll take on a $53,000 C grade SFR with $1,300 (this one is a rare find) in rents any day as long as I know the dynamics of the neighborhood.

I would ask this client why aren't they looking at institutional grade assets instead of these small projects you're mentioning.

As I previously stated I was formerly a teacher and in this field it has usually been a female dominated sector especially for younger grades like elementary, this isn't due to the fact that females are better at teaching children because this certainly isn't the case its just a fact that more women occupy the field.

I also understand assessors definitions can be different but in this area basements below grade are not included.

@Gary Clisele Anything hitting a "2%" rule in the Cleveland area right now would fall under what I would consider a C-Grade area or lower.

. ($1500 for a rental grade painter. $300 for landscaping supplies, $200 for fence supplies, and $1000 for new carpet) I would consider this cost difference to be the intrinsic value difference.  

The BMO (baseline hillside ordinance you mentioned above) caps your grading to something like 5,000 cubic yards for a lot of places including Bell Air. 

If you'd like a PDF of a more detailed explanation I can provide, it is not formal, just something the HOA manager sent to me.Basing the community on a class A - D grading scale, it is a C+ duplex community/ houses , but it is not government housing, it is in a great school district, especially the high school, I'd have to argue top ten public in the state.