I will need to dig a little deep or talk to a tax professional to determine the best way for me to figure my non-land value.To give a little more background as to my situation.

A $45K house that rents for $850 will generate some cash flow.That said, you have to dig a little deeper.

My experience in courts with tenants with repairs is as follows.You get in front of a judge and the best thing to do usually is let the tenant dig a hole for themselves by talking and talking.

I will link to it again here:  http://blog.aklandlaw.com/2008/12/articles/easements-1/keep-your-hooves-off-my-easement-exclusive-easement-prevents-servient-landowner-from-using-driveway/ In that case, you should build a wall or dig a moat, prevent the owner from using the property, and solve it in the courtroom.

doubt Nat is going to put on her hard hat and jump on the back hoe and dig a trench etc etc... this is not a do it yourself job. for all the reasons Jon mentioned.. 12 foot trench requires shoring...

The best way to explaining this is for you to download an IRR calculator spreadsheet or build your own simple one and play around with one.For what its worth most deals I deem meeting minimal IRR standards is 13-15% but you have to dig a little deeper to uncover the real placements of cashflows and capitalization events... and then dig even deeper to verify the assumptions such as occupancy, rent increases per year, and what reversion cap rate was used.Again I don't look for IRR cause its manipulated a lot instead I look at total return on a 5 year basis.

We used a mini-ex to dig a trench around the perimeter of the slab so we could pour continuous footings.

@Nick Brown water wells have been sustaining most of the rural USA for decades...most of the time it's perfectly fine...the point is to have it inspected by a professional...if the well is viable you should be good...if there is a concern, weigh the options the inspector provides...the $500 for an inspection will save you $20k to dig a new well...Water delivery systems should be on your list too...there are several options on how you heat water and get it to your tenants plumbing fixtures...I would be interested to find out how you are billed for public sewer...if the city is not monitoring the amount of water coming in, how can you be billed for water going out??

If not against the house it might be easiest to dig a hole - fill with gravel - then build a slightly raised shower floor out of wood.

You will need to dig a 6 inch trench around your entire perimeter of your building.