In the 1950's someone came through and updated the foundation and other aspects.

From my experience shoreline certification can be a pain. 6 months to 12 months is realistic and then they are only valid for a certain period of time so if you do not finish the project in time they will expire and have to get another one.

Hey Bryan, you could buy you next property in the next month if you want to, but I am assuming you are asking about the 2 year period due to banks wanting to see 2 years of filed Schedule E's to use the rental property income in the calculation for what loan they will give you. 

You took action during a period in time when most people told us we were crazy for buying houses.....

The 1031 has some hoops to jump through in the form of a 45 day identification period and a total time frame of 180 days. 

Another perk is they have access to credit tools like rapid re-scores or updates.

This is more risk upfront but you continue to have more of a collateral over a longer period of time if need be.

Sam Shueh in this particular case they didn’t discover a lien against the property until day 21 of a 21 day closing period.

Calculating rehab costs really comes down to knowing the market, what level of rehab will be done, what type of amenities and fixtures need to be added and updated. 

The biggest challenge with this approach though is most lenders will require you to have a tenant in the home paying you to rent for a set period of time, I think 3 months before they will qualify you for another mortgage.