First offer - I think I'm going to turn it down but need feedback

[Anne M.]

We're investors from overseas (Israel) and were looking into REI in the US. I posted about this in my introduction thread and some more thoughts here. A recap: No experience in REI, have $70K to invest and right now looking for passive income investments that might be better than just more index funds.

We have a friend who's a broker (I think that's the term) working in the Memphis and Atlanta metros. She owns several units there herself. She suggested a property for us and before we say no, I wanted to get some feedback here.

It's a single family home in Memphis. Zip code 38118.

She bought it for $18K last year (I checked the records) and it was in a terrible condition (I saw the pictures on Zillow). She fixed the place and has a tenant coming in this month. So this is essentially a turnkey.

Asking price: 69,500$

Rent: $850

She's setting us up with a PM at 10%. Taxes are $1500 a year and insurance is $750.

As far as I can tell (and it's not very far ;) ), this is a good deal. Even with two months vacancy a year, we'd still make more than %8 on our investment.

What do you think? This would be a class C property, right? I'm not sure that's a good option for us, being newbies and from overseas. 

Frankly, no offense to anyone from these areas but I think it would be better for us to invest in the midwest. We've traveled a lot in the US (44 states and counting) and it's the midwest and the northwest that we liked the most. I realize that's not necessarily a good way to choose where to invest but I think I would feel more comfortable taking more time to learn about REI and explore the viability of different markets.

I'm basically posting here to see if more experienced investors think this is a deal we absolutely should grab with both hands and not let go. 

Thanks in advance!

[Alex Craig]

38118 can be hit or miss. What about the home itself? How old is the HVAC? How old is roof? If those things have not been replaced, you could be looking at expensive repairs sooner then later. How much carpet is in the house? Carpet in high traffic areas needs to be replaced more often then you would think and the narrative that if the tenant destroys it then you can charge them is much harder then what most people think.