Our duplex still has K&T wiring in the upper unit, and has not had any issues in nearly 3 years.

We did find a fixer upper of interest...money pit in ways.1031 exchange is apparently much more complicated if your are looking to roll in construction costs for updates on target property....appears discouraged AND would take more time to plan and execute.RECAPOne of the plans is to take an investment property or two and do a 1031 exchange into a singe family home that we would rent out for a while and then eventually move into as primary residence. 

That money compounded over the years is going to give you a huge leg up.IF you want to invest in real estate stay conservative. 

I actually did the leg work of viewing the properties, took videos, pictures of exterior and exterior to have an estimate of rehab. 

- Creepy mannequins- Three-legged foxI'd love to hear your stories!

There is a substantial amount of engineering that needs to be calculated to carry the additional load of the upper story.

In preparation for requesting bids, I have gathered (Googled) some estimate costs for the scope of work I believe will need to completed to raise the value of the property to align with recent comps; however, after checking reviews on Angie's list of local contractors, it became clear that many of the reviews that I was seeing were from happy homeowners who didn't mind spending an arm and a leg for a kitchen remodel that they would be enjoying.

For me, I have an upper limit that I would aim for.

Hi, I am considering looking for and buying a 2-3 bedroom house in the upper RGV.

@Alan @Alan McClainI’ve been looking in mostly the Northern Suburbs (Upper Arlington, Worthington, and Northwest).