I have seen a few others advise this, but try to look for sales within the last 3 to 6 months within the same subdivision or street, that has a similar style/set up, similar sq footage plus or minus 20 %. 

Polyshades is a stain and poly in one and I use a respirator, especially if indoors (ventilate).

We do open house style showings for a half hour time slot, and can get 10 different applicants all showing up at once to see a specific unit - and it's a struggle to keep track and follow up with potential applicants through the process with so many applying.  

There are still allot of hard working folks in Detroit with a sense of pride of ownership and pride in their life style if they are renters you just have to take the time to get familiar with the areas that are still civilized. 

All finishes, materials, etc are already scoped and picked out, we have a template for 3 different styles of rehab, and don't change from them very often. 

Yea Yea you're supposed to know what your buyer will pay from the start but its not always that easy and i have been off in my numbers before, my area is very very tough, every home is completely different style, land, builder, acreage; it's not like the cookie cutter homes in phoenix.   

I ended up getting molding from lumber liquidators and it matches perfectly.Another online retailer, lightingdirect.com has really good prices on lighting and free delivery.For tile I ended up going with Home Depot as they had some styles I liked that were in my price range, but all the other above places have tile too.Another good source of info is to ask your contractor where they shop, good luck!

Another aspect driving demand is urban redevelopment with warehouses being turned into a plethora of uses ("open loft office" warehouse conversion, indoor trendy mini-malls, and lofts).

Find a niche that works best for your life style.  

I'm in a very desirable area with the obvious red flags in my HOA dues, but it's a resort style community in a prime area so that's why it's so much - its also a very sound HOA financially.