However, the 10k foot level answer would be to turn her home into a rental and have her move in with you in Austin. 

I am able to do a gut renovation (to the studs) for around $50-60/ft2 here, my new builds cost $90-100/ft2.While I personally prefer to build new over renovations, its not because the numbers say so, but other reasons (old layout doesnt work, existing foot print not be best use of land, etc). 

Hello All,I am in St Louis area (west county) and am wanting to get my foot into real estate investing.

Purchase price: $366,000 Cash invested: $1 2 story single family home with 3 beds and 2.5 baths. 1600 square feet and close to 7000 square foot lot.

Im thinking of building a 2 bedroom 1000sq foot guest house and renting it out.

I know modulars are popular (mainly because people have a hard time envisioning a house from just a set of plans) but in all honesty I'm not sure that the cost per square foot is that different from stick built and frankly, I don't like how most of them look from the outside (that's a personal preference).

I’m thinking 1200-1400 square foot to attract tenants with no more than three in the family.

You can find high end products for $3-5/ sq foot that look great.

Homes in February sold at a price per square foot that was 6.1% less than the rest of the year - the biggest discount of any month of the year."

While I’m at it I’ll mention the new HvAC guy is Saying a 110k unit is too large for the 2200 square foot home and wants to replace it with 80k unit.