Multiple elements have to come into play when looking at various asset classes to invest in.Does the investor want to be active or passive for the yield earned annually?

What some developers do is get a bridge loan to stabilization and do a cash out re fi when leased up.You also should look into previous uses of the site to make sure no environmental issues exist.

You are not paying realtor fees and unless you do an environmental study I would suspect you would be 1/4 to 1/3 of that cost.  

That understanding will give you the power to control the answer, and make better decisions that end up generating higher numbers to the right of that $ sign.In other words, don't make decisions based on the numbers to the right of the (=), make decisions based on the elements you can control to the left of that same (=), and the numbers on the right will fall in place as you wnat them to.

I have one house like that with no problems whatsoever, and the heater has been out there for 30+ years (I just replaced it because the elements burned out and it's 30 years old). 

The basement required a lot more rehab than our projections so we had to cut back on certain elements including the driveway, which was due to be replaced but we ran short on funds towards the end.

We were able to clear the environmental risk to get the deal done.

The groundwater and soil turn out to be ok with some contaminants but all well within limits of the environmental screening levels.

Most title companies do not cover environmental no matter what you do.

@Ryan Evans just thought of a few other biggies:Definitely get an environmental inspection done as well (often called Phase I Site Assessment).