My passion for data has caused me to search the net for information about real estate investing, and I find Bigger Pockets to be an excellent source of that information. 

Quick Facts:Year built - 2007 - bank owned in 2009 - vacant for last 5 yearstotal sq ft - 10,000Build cost - $800kpurchase price - $230kReno cost - $80k (sump pump caused flooding and interior finishes)1st floor is finished small offices (300-500 sq ft)2nd floor is white boxed3rd floor is former hair salon (plumbing gutted) and white boxedThe building is in a sleepy town but is surrounded by areas that are booming just a few miles away.  

It looks like it was caused by a grading issue that cannot be easily fixed.

Welcome, and I hope everyone is taking the time to enjoy this time of year and think about why we do what we do and not allow it to be another cause of stress in our busy lives. 

A single flood would easily cause more damage than that.

There are plenty of pests if not dealt with properly can cause more damage than you will ever want to deal with and make the cost of hiring someone seem like peanuts.

Frantzces - all of our marketing is the same - we market probate leads, just today somebody called us - and the subject property was worth 2 millionit looks like this:month 1 - #10 white envelope / computed generated letter (cgl)month 2 - #10 yellow envelope / cglmonth 3 - postcard - 3 seconds of branding - cause they might have tossed our envelopesmonth 4 - #10 pink envelope / cglmonth 5 - repeat cylewe try not to get to fancy - this is a numbers game!!!

I agree on all your points.Being new to real estate can also be like giving 5 year old matches or razor blades to play with; you can cause unintentional consequences if you don't know what you're doing. 

Even through the tears of all the ups and downs of construction ( Yes I cried ) Cause there is ALWAYS some sort of problem. 

Again, apologies if my comments caused offense.Regards,-Dmitri