That's what you will need to sell the house eventually.

I am  fairly new to real estate bought a town house in San Diego last year as a primary home.

How do i estimate renovation costs?

Quote from @Heather Kiddoo: I'm happy to jump on a zoom and talk about what TC's do in the creative real estate transaction if either of you are interested @Mike Hern @Chris Seveney Thanks for the offer, but we have an in house team and use attorneys / escrow companies for all of our real estate transactions. 

Does anyone remember when Brandon Turner used NWROI in his house hacking book?

I am looking at a house in that area as a buy and hold with a tenant already in place. 

I sold a house last year and needed the money to build another house so I have to take the tax hit.

Do people think this is a viable way to build greener and more affordable housing? 

I planning to have backyard installed in new construction SFH.I read this cannot be added to the cost basis of the rental property and be depreciated by 27.5 years since it is not an improvement to the property.But what about paving the patio and side of the garage, where it is touching the house.   

You may not be able to get as much house for the same amount of money if you decide to buy another rental in the future but if you do your research and spend time searching you can still find good deals for similar properties.