But the finished basement has plenty of room to add a 3/4 ==house has to be empty to do this==competing properties selling in the <350K with 2 baths.

Watching out for competing interests as they may fill their own buildings before yours-If you're planning on doing renovations/value add, will they provide oversight to the projects?

Certainly consult a experienced lender for more compete advice. 

Next you need to analyze sales of similar size but selling at the higher end of the market to determine the As Repaired Value (ARV) & the renovations needed to compete with the homes on the higher end of the market. 

How do you evaluate a competent real estate CPA?

Hi Account Closed, I'd recommend talking to a competent lender you trust about the plan and making sure that once you refinance off of the current FHA mortgage and onto a conventional loan you WOULD in fact be able to use an FHA loan to purchase another duplex right away. 

Not going to be able to compete with a 30% down, waived appraisal, no inspections offer, unfortunately.The stat for Tampa Metro is that we're only at 45% multiple offers, but in Pinellas, it's much higher. 

@Evan Kraljic yeah it's a drag :( If anyone is interested, US Bank & Wells Fargo have proprietary low-down loans that compete with Freddie Mac's HomePossible, but they do have different underwriting requirements, income limits, etc.

On the other hand, if you are competing with multiple offers, you might have to cover all of the costs.

Then you must determine the renovations required to compete with the higher priced homes and the costs associated with those renovations.