I wanted to buy in SF during 2010 but the rents barely covered in the mortgage.

During the later round of flooding the street barely got wet.Chris

Some good measuring advice here... and what worked on my fourplex was a really good vapor barrier (over a bare earth floor) with no gaps, even up against wall.

You barely have time to eat and sleep.In wholesaling, ALL you are doing is the relationship.  

i'd be excited to strip or sand the finish in a spot to preview what the bare wood looks like without that dark/opaque stain/finish, and would go a step further by spot refinishing to see how it looks with a brighter finish after stripped/sanded.that said, i'd also be reminded wood floors are high maintenance (ie, scratch easily even with todays finishes like varathane that claim u can skate on it!)

They're barely attached, sharing one corner that used to have a door between them.

It barely gets above 70 degrees here and when it does ...

Unless of course, the work done is the bare minimum to try and flip the property quick.Best advice I can give to someone in this situation is to take such care in the renovation of your property that a discerning would never consider the back property because of the obvious superiority of product provided by your renovation.

Told the builder to include only shag carpet, vinyl floors and bare bulb light fixtures in his bid (which determined our construction loan).

For example, I can ballpark rehab costs to within about 5% in about 15 minutes these days, because I know what to look for when doing inspections and because I'm so familiar with my contractors and what they charge.Now, that doesn't help you on your first couple, and I was in your exact spot about 2 years ago (barely knew how to change a light bulb).What I did was to find a good GC who was accustomed to working with investors, and offered to pay him to visit a couple REOs that I was planning to put an offer on.