Just another angle to think of.There are also ways and banks you could go through where you'd probably have little money out of your pocket using a combo of your HELOC (for the down payment) and traditional financing to finance the purchase/reconstruction costs of a new property.Relianz (now Union State Bank) (Brian Berkley is who I dealt with) would be a local bank that would do that sort of thing.  

O yes it will help us a lot to feel like a homes  two sides of complexes.

What is the rehab cost difference in leaving it as a duplex vs tearing down the walls and reconstructing it?

Who in this world makes $1600/day besides surgeons and real estate investors?

I'd guess, with the stair reconstruction, finishing it off, adding a bathroom, we could easily spend $20k.

You have to replace those after so many years or reconstruct them if you have erosion and the aren't decorative.  

In the realm of more likely to get implemented though, the RTC is going to be doing a major reconstruction of Oddie Boulevard and put in a really nice cycletrack and large sidewalks.

Hint - you're not a real estate "investor" if you've never invested... in much the same way as the publisher of a book on neurosurgery is not a qualified surgeon.  

Including demo and reconstruction it cost us $140-145K (~$75/sq ft).  

A brain surgeon makes more the a general practitioner, an experienced real estate broker is worth a lot more than a newbie wholesaler, if the general practitioner charges to treat a cold what the brain surgeon get an hour, that's out of line.