But tenacity, and keeping my eye on the larger goal (early retirement with plenty of cash flow), has kept me in the game, and I'm glad I did.

@Danielle E. Yes

can you calculate it or is it something you get an eye for after a while?

so I've been eyeing a property in the next state. it was on the market for 20k and seemed like a great rental opportunity.

If not, please let me know where I should ask the following:I've come across some real eye sores of buildings during my travels around the Unites States.

We're eyeing a property in the Philippines (my hometown) so the actual numbers are huge (in millions) but I roughly converted the values in dollars for easier analysis.

Instead, my eyes were glazed over while someone summarized over my shoulder "Oh, that's just required by the state

This is a good eye opener!

There are 2 names that come to mind that I think would be able to shed some light on this topic and be of great help to you, @Dmitriy Fomichenko and @Brian Eastman both have great knowledge in this area and can probably open your eyes to some great options for you.  

"Fair" is also in the eye of the beholder and really boils down to what you can negotiate.