Contact some builders or investors in your area to see what it costs to build a new home on a per square foot basis.

Builders are a good source of mortgages also. .Stay away from LinkedIn note pools that are floating around as they have been daisy chained to everyone and contain junk. 

builders really didn't know how to build houses that won't flood back in the day.  

Being a builder, this is very easy for me to do quickly. 

Do I need builder's insurance?

I am in a market where the labor in that field is short...i have considered going a la carte with different contractors, talking to builders that are slow, the homeless (just kidding)....

If you have another tenant in later they may want a freezer there or if they are handyman / builder types they would love a place to plug a cord in to run a saw and not have to worry about tripping breakers since most hand saws pull 12-15 amps.

Couple months after that I was supplying builders and rehabbers with electrical and plumbing supplies.

I'm wanting to build a duplex and have much of the process started as far as my builder in place, engineering underway and multi-family lot in place.

Here is an example: Lets say I buy a typical 2400-3000 s.f. home in a desirable neigborhood in my local area that was built in the 1990's and has the typical builder-grade finishes of that era (plain oak cabinets, formica countertops, wall-to-wall carpeting in the living and dining rooms, plain 4 x 4 tiles in the bath--you know the type--serviceable buy "dated"--we have LOTS of them around here!)