As long as you can afford to make the repairs within the next year or so and you're not spending more than the house is worth, I would move forward with the purchase.

>Sacramento remains affordable at $1,850/month, with minimal growth.

He's the CEO of a company that builds healthcare facilities, and you rented him a "fully furnished luxury executive rental," but then you said he's broke and couldn't afford to give his kids Christmas presents?

Mom and Pop shops are not that great at accounting and the numbers tend to look like they can't afford to live so take that in to account plus the operations they are doing. 

Can you afford the downpayment, brrr costs, keep money in the deal and have sufficient reserves for both properties(i.e 2 years of vacancy/lead times, 75-100% of capex, 3-6 months of random ********?

They have a mix of solid rental demand and still offer relatively affordable entry points.FWIW, those aren't areas I specifically invest in today but they will give you some anchors and are examples of strong neighborhoods.As for schools, it’s true they can be a challenge in a lot of Detroit.

Its like 100 bux a month, meaningless fee for them to handle it all Good luck  Hi Bob, who do you recommend in Akron that advertises your property on the Affordable Housing website? 

If your local law allows it, see what everyone else is doing and go by the norm. 3 months rent is a substantial amount for some, but really helps ensure the financial quality of a tenant.Sometimes I have immigrants who apply who work their tails off and can't afford the 3 months up front.

It’s also the career tenants who live in inexpensive housing because it’s all they can afford who are far more inclined to take advantage of liberal landlord tenant laws and that's going to be a minority of the tenant base if you invest in gateway cities.

If you are charging market rent, the rent you will lose for that 1 week of occupancy would afford you the ability to rent a comparable property on the market without the need for any of this kind of nonsense.