Downtown Suffolk and northern Suffolk are two completely different animals. 

These are important questions because renovations can quickly eat away at your budget especially if you don't have a trustworthy contractor.

What I have found through Google and forum searches is split between "everything is deductible" to "you just eat this cost."

It's harder to finance good properties right now for obvious reasons, and if you go NNN or DST then you need to be very clear about the costs (upfront and ongoing) that might eat at your returns. 

This cuts down on the back-and-forth driving, which can eat up a lot of time.

My hope is that the clientele we bring in won't completely trash the place but I realize that is just wishful thinking and that people, regardless of income/ what they are willing to pay, can behave like animals (I was in the auto industry before becoming an attorney and the things I saw walking trades will forever haunt me). 

If you plan on keeping it as a rental - and you might want to talk to some experienced Clevelanders first - then you'll have to eat the $30k as well to make it work.

There is a member here that advises newbies to treat section 8 recipients like animals.

At a standard brokerage, we have to design how were eating their lunch and what's left. eXp put's out there they will give away the lion's share of brokerage comm split's, making it available to those "up-chain" of that agent.

I am certainly afraid of the unknown, which would include those fees eating up the equity that I have built to date.