As the economy recovers and unemployment subsides I anticipate this market will pick up faster than the overall market.

Construction costs have always been based on my contractors and suppliers then current rates + factoring in their feedback on cost trends anticipated over the next 12ish months, depending on the rehab timeline.  

The biggest, most common factor that I can think of that can really drive up the cost is if the property is in a flood zone which you should avoid anyway.Just a tip, when practicing analyzing the numbers, if the math is so tight that the insurance being a bit higher than anticipated is what makes or breaks the deal then that is probably a good indicator that it is not a good deal in general. 

., across from the commercial retail shop construction site, with the new traffic lights being installed presumably for the anticipated increase in traffic?"

Awesome : ) Anticipation

Try to anticipate a market contraction.

I also have personal interest in visiting the area more often, so travel to inspect and manage the property suits me.I anticipate this property will have a stronger resale value at some future time and that extracting cash from the rehab before sale makes sense.

., so planning around those; with enough dependencies, it could be easy to overlook a few of them at first, although the example above may not be the best); an anticipated timeframe for each of various tasks (he divides the property into 25 very handy and well-organized components, and covers them one at a time as well as how to view it in the larger scope of a rehab), and more.

But cash flow today should trump (anticipated but not guaranteed) appreciation in the future.

Also the time before the investment throws off the anticipated return matters as well.