My wife's per diem is built into her hourly rate so I haven't even broken it out in the past. 

I know that it is always best to get a contractor to tour the units, but are there any "rule of thumbs" anyone uses for upgrading units?  

Buy something ugly, upgrade it, refinance it to pull out your initial cash, then go find another and do the whole thing over again.

Do I use allowances for upgrades?  

In that time:We did a complete re-plumb and moved the laundry room inside the house.We re-wired and upgraded all the panels.We completely gutted both bathrooms and re-did them.We replaced all the windows and doors.We gutted the kitchen and put in new tile, cabinets, granite countertops and appliances.We repaired the roof and converted the outside laundry room into a garden shed.We re-did all the floors with cherry wood, tile and carpet in the guest bedrooms.We re-did the HVAC with a new unit and air handler and moved the air handler out of the master bedroom (not sure why it was there) and into the hall closet to free up closet space in the master.We replaced the deck which was rotted, landscaped and removed a dead tree which definitely would have been considered a hazard.And e took a strange room addition right off the living area and framed it into two rooms, a study and a laundry room.Thanks everyone for reading, and stay tuned for part 4... the finished product.

You'll probably need to upgrade the electrical, might have asbestos, perhaps lead paint, etc.Most towns in CT are on the Vision Appraisal website, where you can get the field card online.

Hi BP, just trying to get my ducks in a row, so far, I have just broken ground to residential market.

Seems that everyone that upgraded is having a problem as of late.

If you're looking to connect with other probate niche investors in your geographic market, suggest you upgrade to Pro, use keywords and post in the geographic markets section.Also, sponsor or fi-sponsor a meetup or similar event which you'll be able to promote here on BP as a Pro account member and have more latitude to reach other members in the greater Phoenix/Tempe/Mesa as well as other AZ markets that you can pull from.Hope you get some traction.

The Water shutoff valve in the front of my new property is completely broken and needs to be dug up and fixed.