It almost seems like a magnet for bad tenants sometimes when everything is new and perfect.

I've bought shorts vacant, tenant occupied and owner occupied.It can be hard in my area too...I wonder if the townhouse has monthly fees that could cut into the cash flow, and to what extent those fees cover maintenance of the exterior...On the plus side, since it's an end unit, maybe it would be easier to rent?

Nope. 50% is the long term average... accounts for things like having to paint the exterior every now and again, the occasional septic issue, replacing a room every few decades... those sorts of things are big expenses and don't show up in year to year reports.

I am trying to figure on costs of rehab as well as what to offer on home - ( I would reside in Home there after as owner occupant ) it needs the following from what i can see.. x2 for two floors/ apts- 43 replacement windows- 43 Square of Roof- a Rather Large Tree Limbs Hanging over roof cut- 4 Exterior Doors with storm doors- 6 Exterior doors with no storm doors- Raise Porch Rails to code ( another ft or so ) Porch in front is 50 ft & rear Porches 30 ft- Fix Front wooden stairs @ 5-6 ft wide- Fix Water entering basement thru Bull Ked ( add a drain or pour concrete )- Pour Concrete in Three car garage floor ( is dirt now )- Needs Heating & Hot water, and baseboard heat up two floors ( two new furnaces and FHW baseboard brought up two stories )- Electrical service upgrade from 60 amps old knob and tub to breakers and also bring up two floors adding new elec service in whole building adding plugs in all rooms plus washer and dryer hookups - 2 Panels, and move it to outside from basement..- New sub floors in Kitchens where needed , and then Linoleum floors in kitchen- Total Cleanout 3-4 Roll Off Dumpsters for left behind junk- Linoleum in pantry 4x8- 2 Bathrooms - Needs new linoleum and 1 needs Sub floor- Bathroom walls - rip off old plastic tile in one and make drywall and paint - Ba 2 Needs Rip off wall paper and skim and paint2 - Living room Kitchen & (2) Dining Room and 3 (6)Bed rooms Refinish Hardwood floors on ea floor so x22- Living rooms, kitchen and dining rooms, remove wall paper and skim coat, and paint all walls and ceilings2 - Living Rooms and windows remove all trim and replace with new and paint ( lead Paint )2 - Repair Bathroom Ceilings and Pantry Ceilings and then paint6 Bedrooms Fix Drywall, paint walls and ceilings2 Bathrooms install bathtub wall panels2 - Install Kitchen Cabinets , and countertops, and Sink in both pantrys2- Install Dishwashers including pipe, drains and elec in two pantries2 - Over stove - More cabinets in Kitchen @ 6 ft top and bottom with countertops2 Install washer and dryer hookups after bringing power to locationApprox 150-200 ft of Asbestos removal in basementalso what is the lead time to do all this..?

If you've been in 100 houses in an area and you look at an exterior picture you can problem describe the interior of the house in detail.

I have heard good reviews about this product: http://www.thereinforcer.com/It's a product that can be installed by the homeowner (or your contractor) and is a huge cost savings over digging along the exterior foundation wall to shore up the wall with fresh brick and mortar.

No exterior work whatsoever - it's very well kept.I'd rather get my contractor in and out.A few years ago I bought something in Dec. and sold it in January.

Got a call from the tenant that the utility company couldn't find the house to transfer the utilities(no mailbox and numbers pulled off the house for exterior painting :O).

Staging.Most exterior work can be accomplished at any of these stages.

August: Electrical, $75 service call.Sept: Exterior stucco repair $250.Oct: Landscape $150.My PM has a $500 limit before he has to call me.