I would bet the odds of someone staying over a $1000 a month increase before having them stay if they have to get rid of Fido. 3) Keeping that tenant does have value, not $400 a month value but some value.

I assume the bank will do this appraisal ahead of underwriting the original mortgage.Your best bet is to have a conversation with a local lender about the FHA 203k program.  

If they were looking to create some investment income and can afford to buy another home without using the proceeds from the sale of this one, however, a 1031 would be a great tool for down the road if they were looking to trade-up to a more lucrative property or move their portfolio into another market without paying taxes on the sale.It sounds like the tax exempt gain will be the best bet - it's called the Section 121 exclusion if you want to google it. $250k for a single person, $500k for a married couple filing jointly.Best of luck to you and your parents!

I am betting it is tougher to find good deals here in ca compared to va.

.), or that they will just build a wall around our property and finish converting and developing the land around us into commercial entities.We said we were fine with them building around us (with the bet that we will be bought out at our price eventually (possibly even higher due to the fact that pretty much everything around us will be commercial property and generating revenue (restaurants/mall/stores/etc...))).Now I'm asking, if you were in our shoes, what would your game plan be?

I'm willing to bet we have a lot of IT people here.Good luck!

Your best bet is to make a trip to the Public Services Building downtown and speak to the Building Department Counter.

You need cooling for 8-9 months of the year I bet. 

You do have to keep your eye on the long term, while mitigating risk and hedging your bets in the short term ... and that takes skill, capital, and patience.

you don't want to be tied into those big payments when something goes south, and you can bet it will.