Another option is to ask your insurance company what the replacement costs would be as they have all that data as well and use it for underwriting policies. 

I could use a little help and motivation with keeping on track as well since this is a side venture and is not replacing my main source of income at the moment. :)If you are interested, PM me and I'll share my contact info. 

First of all when we opened up a lot of walls we noticed there was a lot of water damage and we had to replace a lot of rotten wood along with all new insulation on exterior walls and a lot more sheet rock then we anticipated.

I'm going to make analyzing 1 deal per day a goal - that sounds like a great way to learn.

Sounds like the purchaser may need to bring in an equity partner to bridge the gap.Anything other than first position debt is extremely expensive.

@Trish GeyerIt sounds like your husband is comfortable with you going after your first property (which is half the battle).  

Sounds like you´re on a great learning path!   

The OP made it sounds like he's there "all the time"....so I agree that there needs to be some definition to that statement..... if the guy is there a couple of nights a week, then let it slide.

Being relatively new to this, though, I don't know whether it would actually be a good deal for me (the current owner likely wouldn't accept it either, but I'd potentially be willing to try making an offer if my idea sounds reasonable).

You don’t get to deduct the price of the pair of jeans you bought to replace that pair, to sell later.