Houses on my street just 2 blocks away command at least $150 more in rent.  2) lead paint certs just depend on the property.

Understanding where assets are in the life cycle will help you command more deals and better ROI.

If you purchase an older building & do nothing to improve it you won't be able to command the rent or maintain the value. 

I would hope to keep it under MM, as  I don't have the capital to command that type of leverage.

I'm asking for opinions on the matter, especially from an appraiser's or loan officer's perspective.I've been told that the bldg I'm having to basically fully renovate due to a fire (it's currently gutted right now) won't command an appraised ARV above $500k due to the town it's in.

These properties will generally command a premium to a property that is either not rented out or has deferred maintenance.  

It's a family business that self manages and does all their own rehab work and does full rehabs to keep ongoing maintenance to a minimum and allows them to command top rents.

For SFH its squared footage / bedrooms / and area that help command price basically just like apartments.. harder to shop in person for comps so listings on major sites are easy to track by area / map Apartments basically the same way,, but transportation / bus sometimes is a big plus.. and if your in a close nitch with similar size apts I'd recommend go and physically check to see what they are offering,, shop them as I bet they have shopped you.. 

The thing about short term is you can usually command much higher rents, however, even just a few days of vacancy can wipe out your profits and I saw large SFHs sit vacant much more often than smaller apartments/condos.

Question related to this; can homes with pools command more rent?