I was a math professor for 14 years and then a drilling fluids engineer until a few weeks ago when the low oil prices finally took my job. 

Make sure they include both and both structures will have their own replacement costs, etc.The mortgage can be for both houses, and when you refi you can refi the entire thing.Good LuckGino

~$1800New Paint & Carpeting throughout ($8800)Replace the front porch deck boards ($3500)Power wash vinyl siding & roof ($500)Minor landscaping to clean up outside yard and minimal landscaping around the front and side ~$1000Extend the deck from the sliding glass door to the side kitchen door with one set of stairs entering the kitchen door (roughly 6-12 linear feet not including the steps) ~$3500New stove and dishwasher ($1200)I included a miscellaneous cost for anything that may come up of $5000.

Replacing the door costs too much.

I actually learned about expected value in my past professional life as a control systems engineer designing Extended Kalman Filters (you can google it if you like), not blackjack ... 2 vastly different paths that lead to the same exact conclusion :). 

Sales comparison looks at competing retail sales, income evaluates the subject as an income producing property, and cost (simply put) focuses on the current cost to build/replace a property.

A few months ago around Christmas time we were doing a bathroom remodel for a new homeowner on a house that was flipped, the master bathroom was a disaster, there isn't enough space to go into all the things wrong, so I'll just tell you about the bathtub - jetted tub they bought from Home Depot, so it was a de-engineered Jacuzzi model, low horsepower pump, less jets than the non Home Depot version, but it looked new and shiney. 1) Tub wasn't sitting on the sub-floor, was suspended by it's rim, even it they had built the tub deck correctly to size based on everything else I sure they wouldn't have poured a mortar base for it to sit in.

I replaced my plain glass "old as dirt" drafty windows with double paned ones about two years ago. 

What is the integrity of the houses' systems and when will they need to be replaced (capital expenditures)?

Hello All, We've entered escrow on a property just yesterday that has been on and off the market for a few years, and according to the selling agent multiple potential buyers have been in escrow on the property but eventually ended up walking due to the sellers not being able to find a replacement home.