I am a landscaper by trade and have been around construction a good part of my life.

When I am driving for dollars I look for: boarded up windowsbroken windowstall grassa general unkept appearancemissing mailboxoverflowing mailboxsigns of major expense (blue tarp on roof, etc.)no exterior landscaping (possible sign of a rent house)for rent signsFSBO signsno curtains or blindsIf I see someone out in the neighborhood I stop and ask them if they know of any vacant houses nearby and tell them what I do.Im sure there are other things but thats a start.

Opinions will vary on this, but I never put a house on the market until it is totally complete with landscaping, final cleanup and staging completed.You only get one chance to make a good first impression with a buyer, you want the buyer to be noticing all the great features, you dont want them looking and noticing incomplete or unfinished items.We have had many of our houses sell first weekend on the market this past year.

That water charge might be your portion of the water bill for use in common areas, like watering landscaping.

Real expenses include depreciation, repairs, maintenance, vacancy loss, leasing fees, management fees, accounting fees, legal fees, all fees necessary to carry out an eviction (if necessary), postage, office supplies, HOA fees, landscaping, make ready upon tenant move out, etc.

It's on a good foundation, over an acre with landscaping and a large garage.

I'm thinking a good power washing, painting the shutters and doors, maybe a railing around the porch and some landscaping will be enough to make it stand out.

My day job is in selling construction materials, brick, block, stone, landscape, etc. for new construction and remodels.Owned a duplex years ago but being newly married at the time and then kids on the way, sold it due to lack of time and the cash flow was not good enough for property management.

Landscaping condition.Gang activity in the area.

Would upgrading the kitchen and landscaping seem to increase the value of a home?