Mostly cosmetic items in my opinion (new flooring, painting cabinetry, fresh paint, electrical and plumbing fixtures) etc and one bathroom is having a completely new tub, shower body (+ finishes) cement board walls, waterproofing and tile work. 

If you an buy a "little old lady" property that just needs paint and flooring with it, you will be very pleased with the equity gain and the COC returns you can achieve. 

This is a multi-part question.Question:If you could start over with a clean slate, with all your current knowledge from all your wins and losses in real estate investing: A.

This is a multi-part question.Question:If you could start over with a clean slate, with all your current knowledge from all your wins and losses in real estate investing: A.

This property would sort of offer them a little gem of a find, inexpensive and close to campus.... that is if I could get it cleaned up.

huge on property investments for rentals/rehabs and all. it's still a lot of good things going on. they're cleaning up big time even in the distressed areas the dusty big bad wolf houses are being blown down, so in another 2/5 years a lot of properties values are going to go up, and a lot of people are coming back with that tax abatement, paying no taxes on the homes for 15 years is motivation.

While appraisers shouldn’t take too much into account about how clean and pleasant the tenant is, as noted above, everyone is human and such impressions can make a difference.

Turns out my flooring contractor also owned a garage.

The house just needs carpets cleaned and a little paint, easily under $1k of work.

as was noted above, percentage is not a good indicator of price.There is a kind of a floor - where it's not going to get any lower - for example, "legal" costs could be a flat $400, or $600.