, just looking to understand the trade-offs.Thanks!

A broker should be able to show you "dark trades" so that you can see what a empty or empty-ish building is trading in your market.

@Bryan Beal I am a local Realtor/investor with 10 yrs exp in the building trades (commercial carpentry/custom homebuilding) p.m. me if you have any questions or I can help in any way.

The knob and tube will be mostly replaced although I haven't figured out whether to re-trade or meet them in the middle or what yet.

Not including CAPEX which you won't have for a while; but build your reserves just the same.You really need a proper PM firm-there is just too much liability and risk if you don't, and 56 units is not enough to swing it on your own.

All of which depend on the sub code officials governing each trade in the town.

You putting nicer finishes in this price range doesn't make a 30% swing. 

I'll second what Jennifer said, you can run into a lot of regulatory and legal problems with hard money lending, so I would start by trying to find out first, is there a trade association in your area for hard money lenders? 

Trading up in this way will allow you to take advantage of “scale”, your rents will be higher, your maintenance will likely be lower. 

Get a number from CPA.If you are buying something else, you may do well trading the created note a face with out a discount.