He said if I need to file paperwork/go to court he understands and didn't seem open to breaking the lease early or a reasonable amount for cash for keys.

Key differences I see: Much higher rentMarginally higher fixed expenses around $525Marginally higher variable expenses around 725 - as it is an older house, as are all in westchester, frequently more things break, keep a larger repair budget available.If you are living in a unit then you would be on the hook for about 2545 (2345 + 200 missing cashflow). 

I am not a fan of those big windows anyways because it is easy to break a window and enter the property.

Happy to break it down further if you need an unbiased set of eyes from a mortgage veteran.Best of luck!

@Jerel Ehlert How am I specifically breaking the law?

@Steven Woods in regards to insurance, from start to finish you could have 3 different policies depending on how fast the project progresses.1)  Vacant land policy - if you will be holding the property for more than 60 days before breaking ground.2) Once you are ready to break ground, and to secure financing,  you will need a Builders Risk Policy.3)  Landlord policy can be put in place once the property has the occupancy permit and it will be 70% leased out within 60 days from the start of the policy. 

I prefer fixing old furnaces because they have less things that can break.

Happy Holidays to my fellow DMV investors. Here are some interesting recent stories from the D.C. real estate world and beyond.
DC Council Takes First Vote on Ward RedistrictingApartment rent and occupancy set new re...

Regarding the Capex items, it would be a nightmare if something breaks and affects my cash flow for many years to come.

So the old homes were sold to canny investor types who quickly converted them into duplexes and filled them with black folks eager to get out off the Hill and white Appalachia hill folk from the surrounding areas looking to move into the Pittsburgh metro area.As the municipalities began to catch on to the fact that any sort of old home undergoing a conversion to multifamily was bad news for the area, they passed ordinances forbidding the conversion of single-family to multifamily.