Glimpse of a landlord with a C- property

[Mike Hanneman]

Today I went to check out a potential property. Cash flow was going to be around $1100 -$1200. Property was an 8 unit. In the 40 min. that I was there with my agent we witnessed a drug deal going down in the property. A nuisance complaint about a barking dog that turned into a heated argument and then a fist fight. All this with the tenents who have leases in place.

This would have been my first property. So I'm glad I got to see this first hand just to know what problems are out there.

Is it crazy for me to still think about this property if I can get the purchase price low enough?

[Darwin Crawford]

All depends on you.  I personally don't mind lower-end stuff, but I'm an early 30's guy and as my dad says, "still full of piss and vinegar" with a decent lawyer and not scared to either call the cops or zip tie some thumbs.  I've also made the conscious decision to invest in a very landlord friendly state with good police presence.  being 6' and 190+lbs helps some too I guess.  

I think the advice about making rules is a good one; my first property in AZ was a dump of a duplex in tweaker-ville.  I cleaned it up, booted the fat slob with the illegal dog, got some good people in there, had two run-ins with the local meth heads that left one in handcuffs and made friends with all the beat cops.  I've had to pull a pot plant out of the front yard, etc, etc.  Only truly worrisome thing to me now is pit bulls.  In the wrong hands those things are scary as hell.  

HUGELY helpful learning experience, and now I don't sweat much, but have gone for higher-end properties due to local opportunity.  

For the record, i have $68K in the property all in, and rent it for $520 and $600 (apts A/B).  Its now basically a hands-off place, but the first 6 months were NOT.