I find sites like zillow, redfin, trulia, etc give me all the information I need to determine ARV.If you have an agent that will run the info for you, then great, but I just use these sites and play it on the safe side.

This better be a turnaround play or I wouldn't buy it at all.Can you really raise rents AND make tenants pay for utilities?

Better yet, call your competition to learn what you have to sell that they might not (such as laundry hookups, large yard, whatever) and play on that the next time somebody raises a fuss about the electric heat.I would consider lower rent as a very last resort.

How does this kind of thing play out?

Joy of working short sales I guess.Rough numbers are:Purchase: $180kRehab: $8kSale: $250kI was gonna change the floorplan some and update more and sell in the $275k range, but I think the better play is to just do paint, carpet, clean up and flip it quickly for $30k or so after holding/sales costs.Had some new private lenders not come through so its either find some money or a partner or go institutional hard money...which doesn't appeal to me.Open on terms and split depending on how the work/money/experience shakes out.

It's all about timing and funding that makes a redevelopment play happen.

Yes, for the sake of fair play.

The island will be some type of Ipe or Walnut that has variations in color, like the one below. 

Id prefer to keep it that way....and baltimore city ( the mechanisms at play running this **** town that i get the glory of encountering anyway) are an example of what happens when the otherwise unemployable are given jobs.....

I may just need see how things play out.