I think it is a little tough to look at your home with pure numbers blinders on.

It'll be tough to wholesale with the liens still attached. 

That's a tough one.  

So if I replace a bathtub and I can support the fact that the bathtub only makes up 10% of the plumbing system as a whole, I can fully deduct the cost in the current year, rather than capitalizing and depreciating as you normally would because the 10% is not a material improvement to the plumbing system as a whole. 

.$25k in materials and laborMonthly holding costs: $557(int payments, taxes, utilities, insurance)House info as purchased:House built in 1971 - Solid B neighborhood - Great Schools2081 sq ft4 Bed, 2.5 BathNew RoofNew WindowsNew HVACVinyl SidingWork to be performed:New cabinets and counter topsLaminate downstairs and carpet upstairsNew vanitiesNew light and plumbing fixtures(tubs staying)New water heater Paneling removed from den and replaced with sheetrockWindow removed from eat in kitchen and replaced with slider to access the back yardSmall deck built off of sliderAnd obviously paint throughout.We will probably price it under market value and hope to sell it quickly(30-60 days) at $125k which would give us a profit(after commissions, closing costs, and carrying costs) of $22k-$23k.  

Tough bunch!

My issue is that I'm having a tough time finding properties that would be worth flipping in my area.

That said, it's a tough market.

Joe- Thank you for your feedback; it was tough work to get some stability in my family's finances, I feel good where we are, its now to turn on the "offense".  

when I look back one of my best years in buying foreclosures was 2004.. now I attribute that to the fact that the internet had not fully taken off Regarding RE.. so you still needed to have those particular set of skills that I learned from the 1970's on... now with the interenet its flooded the market with investors who here to fore would have never competed with me as it would have been to tough and complicated.Even BP is  perfect example of free on  line training.. for better or worse depending on your perspective.