Im already working towards putting together a business plan in order to use a VA loan to house hack for a year while we do small renovations to force appreciation on an outdated duplex or quad; we are mostly just waiting to fix our credit a bit before we put that action into play (we, me and my husband).

We simply don’t know yet exactly how this will play out.

You are playing by old rules.

It has the rental calculator for now.​Please look for Biggerpockets Tools in the Play Store.

Permits can be obtained after the fact in emergency situations like this one, as previously posted.NOTE:  Be sure to play nice with the city inspectors of the repairs to un-condemn the property. 

Banks manage cash: inbound and outbound and "play" with that cash while they have it.

If you play the game of holding on to your money and waiting for the "perfect" moment, it may pass you by.

Remember buy n hold is a long term play. 

For this reason it should not play a big part in the decision making process.The question you want to ask is if you have a partial loss, range of $100k-$300k, what % of that claim do you want the insurance company to pay and what % are you willing to pay or have reserves for?  

I took @Dave Meyer's awesome data and played around with it a bit.