In rehabs, landscaping hits diminishing returns very quickly and has the potential to turn away buyers (i.e. if I saw a water feature that I would have to pay to maintain, I'd move on to the next place.)

Robert, One of the things to watch out for:  in those old 50s Capes, sometimes the process of adding a dormer is complex because the structure is not designed for the extra weight. 

As long as the money is still on the table, and you're still in the game, you haven't lost it...it's just in a different pile.The actual solutions as I see it, is just buy the house from her for what she owes...don't make it more complex than you need to make it.Joe VilleneuveREcapSystemA2REIC

I'm more curious about Apartment Complexes and how this would work with what you mentioned.THIA

In my mind there is a progression from SFR to multis, to complexes, then to commercial.  

As I found properties that I was interested in, I used the zillow feature to have the agents contact me. 

Depends on how many days on market, how complex the rehab is, whether there's anything about the property that you can't fix with a rehab (small lot, no dining room, etc), and whether you are doing a fix and flip or buy and hold.In my area, 10%-15% seems to be pretty common, but I'm not too familiar with the Tacoma market.Keep in mind that this number (ARV minus costs minus discount) is your maximum purchase price, not your initial offer.  

Find people close to you using MEET feature.

Long Explaination: I'm a first time buyer who just purchased my first property, a condo in a twelve unit complex, located in a very desirable part of Portland, OR.

Use the search feature here on BP to find it.