I boarded up the home and fenced off the lot for safety, but made no other improvements to the land.The strategy and patience paid off last month with a sale to a developer who also purchased a larger, adjoining piece of land.My cost for the property, including taxes and other holding costs was a total of just under 70K.

If another investor buys the tax lien from the state, that investor can make "preservation improvements" and your redemption price will include the VALUE of those preservation improvements (not just the cost to make them.)

single family homes are less desirable to rent than an entire apartment complex as you have way more to maintain, versus one structure under one or 2 roofs.  

This is sale versus fair rental condition... 

Second, I'm not sure about the ARV as I am currently a buy and hold investor, therefore, I'm not looking to improve the property to sell, but to make it a desirable living place...which I learned quickly are two totally different animals.  

I am planning to see property A to buy property B using 1031 exchange.In order to get top dollars for property A, I need to do some home improvements (paint, carpet, etc.)Is it possible get money from the 1031 exchange sale to "pay me" back these expenses, tax free?

Hello GeorgeI congratulate you for even being in a position to think about purchasing an investment property but I think you would benefit more both short and long term if you improved your existing situation before you pulled the trigger on any type of purchase.First of all, your 600 FICO will make your decision as to which type of loan you want to proceed with a lot easier than you think.

The remaining $35,000 was spent on improvements to those capital assets.

Just think of all the additional money you make from keeping 1 tenant for 5 years versus 5 tenants.

I ask him to do a comparison of home prices versus rentals in different markets that we're considering investing in, so I can quickly see how close are houses to the "2% rule" in an area.