Please give me some pro's/con's of seeking flooded properties, these are clearly distressed properties, but I want to go into this eyes-wide open.Thanks,Frank & Robin 

Property management is 8-10% all day long nation wide. 8% vacancy is only one vacant month a year with nothing for turnover cost.

I have a photography and art background, so I'm not looking to hire anyone, but I want to do better than compact cams or a phone with a wide attachment lens.

My point in spelling out the above is that if I were in your shoes, my honest opinion is that I'd do my homework and be as wide-eyed and intentional as one can be in terms of where and what I purchased.Both of the Christian's in this thread made a good point that jives with what I'm getting at.

CompsAll that said, Lenders can do what they like and there are some very widely accepted practices but that doesn't mean you can't find a lender who is an outlier.

The wide variety of topics they cover just gives so many different perspectives and methods to open your eyes too.

Baton Rouge had a major flood event a year ago and it stands to reason that there would be a huge disparity between purchase and resale prices of properties that are flood damaged.  

You need to increase their rent to market rent AND THEN go on to add additional income streams.Whereas you've received a wide range of opinions, I think we all can agree that your reserve are not for subsidizing a tenant. 

Accompanied by many industry leaders from the Central Valley covering a wide range of topics.I learned a lot and gained some great resources and contacts.

Plus, a number of the cabinets were locked with magnetic locks (which we had to remove) and we found that one set of cabinets lead to the wide open entrance into the crawl space!!