If you commission a high-end ground up restoration from a professional, you are unlikely to get your money back...particularly in the new age of remake anticipation

If you do the job yourself, it's a lot of work but the sense of accomplishment is immense. I've done a few mid-end restorations myself and it was really gratifying.

Typically the best deal is finding a high-end ground up restoration that's being resold. Resale HEP restorations typically sell in the 8-10k range and they usually cost much more originally.

Unclear...maybe. I can tell you that I have a HEP AFM that I'm fairly certain wouldn't fetch more than 9-10k. I've seen HEP CFTBL sell for 6-7k! With MMR, I would be surprised if you'd get much more than 10k frankly. I guess 11-12k is conceivable...

No doubt people can ask whatever they want for their HEP. In Florida, I had an opportunity to purchase a HEP TZ for 10k not so long ago. Have no idea if it was as nice as the example you forwarded, but 14k is richly priced for TZ. I decided to keep my HUO example (and I doubt it wouldn't fetch over 8k).