MartinMy dad started in the land business in the Santa cruz mountains  Loch Lomond area in 1964.. bay area folks were buying lots for weekend homes.. ton of land in those hills. and if your lucky enough to score a mid size acreage with redwood you could log it as well and make a bunch.

Depending on the size of the building we would propose 5% to 7% of the monthly rent. 

First ask if there are any areas you should completely avoid (as a couple people) and if they all say the same thing its probably a good bet its true.

We are a decent sized wholesale group in a few markets in Florida.

Concrete:  $75 a yard installedBrick:  $.50 per brick installedpainting:  $100-150 a room with trimexterior painting: $1800-$2500new hvac : $2300new window:  $100-$150 for standard sizes x 2 for installdrywall : $12-$18 a sheet finished (depends on finish level and size of sheets)tile: $5 a square foot installed (add material cost of between $2 and $10)basic stainless appliance package : $2500hardwood $2 a sq. foot installed $1 a sq foot to refinish (add material cost of $2 to $10)plumbing:  $100 per fixture to install and $100 per fixture rough-inelectrical: priced per outlet and per fixture for both rough-in and installTotal rewire of house:  $3K-$6Kupgrade electrical service:  $800Total replumb of house with pex (no slab): $2K - $5K10x10 set of cabinets no frills:  $2500, about 1 day for a capenter to installcountertops: $1500-2000new roof:  $5K (metal including materials)deck:  $2K-$5Kbulldozer/bocat:  $80 an hourdumptruck:  $1.50 per mileCarpenter:  $35 an hour low end + $10-$15 an hour for helpers. 2 carpenters can frame an entire house in less than a week.  

your best bet is to have one on your team, and consult with him on this matter, i am not a CPA but i believe all those improvements should have been put on your taxes the years that you had the work done, it would have increased the asset value then and kept adding as you did the projects and reported them. i think you are in for an uphill battle now. the work you may have done say 5 years ago can't just be claimed now, there is 5 years of depreciation that is against that work that the IRS will claim you lost out on, so that will have to be deducted from your numbers.

Do check the county property appraiser site to be sure their info. on structure/size matches to what's there.

Its a 4 unit, so I suppose I'll be looking at comps all day to see how it sizes up. 

I bet the neighbors will be happy when it is finished.

We are a small to mid-size town of 300,000 (600,000 metro region), situated between Columbus, Detroit, Cleveland, and Chicago.