Based on this description and depending on the quality of materials, the retail price on the improvements could be as little as $50,000 or as high as $100,000. Obviously it would be less if the owner is in the trades and is doing the work themself.

An investor has to be careful about the amount of work they take on because some of it pays and some of it doesn’t. Redoing the roof, kitchen and baths have better returns than replacing windows and moving walls around; and the tree roots are “invisible”. The other problem is that no matter how much money goes in, this is still an 1,156 SqFt dogbox in Clairemont and it will be priced in competition with other homes in the neighborhood. If a lot of them are making similar improvements then this property is part of a trend and will profit accordingly. If hardly any of them are making those improvements then this one’s an orphan.