Light to mod rehab (kitchen, flooring, paint, light fixtures - baths are already updated and curb appeal is great) should be 20K+-.

Inflating a sales price and doing fancy things with financing is what gives real estate investors a bad name and causes state legislatures to pass nutty laws to curb abusive practices.

We would have called out animal control to deal with the dog while we dealt with the tenant and you dealt with moving their belongings to the curb.

The way I look at it, real estate is the best curb of inflation as you can adjust/peg the rent you charge to inflation, and for those other reasons that Jon mentioned earlier (values keep pace and debt is paid back with less valuable dollars)

I wouldn't count on that, here in NY it can take over a YEAR to process an eviction...there are a lot of factors to consider, things like if the person tried to make even partial payments you can't throw them out, or if they have no where else to go, under some kind of legitimate financial hardship, etc.... it's all a lot of BS in my opinion, it should be simple: if you don't pay, the cops come drag your sorry freeloading butt out and kick you to the curb. too many people in this country always expect a free ride/exception/someone else to pick up the tab

I wanted the place to have "curb appeal and attract good tenants....learning lessons everyday...the hard way....but my origial question. what can I do about the cost to fix the yards?

she failed to pay June rent. so when i went over there the neighbors said she moved or was moving down south. so i gave her a thirty day notice (June 10)and put all her stuff on the curb(July 10) to be picked up by the city.

I see plenty of judgements that are affordable for me (15 to 20k) but when I google the property's address and see the curb view of it, the house compared to the judgement amount always seems to good to be true.

If waves are due to bowed rafters, go with a 30yr shingle which is a thicker grade, looks 100 times better from a curb appeal stand point, and should cost 300-500 more in material.

Great topic Jaham,Todd, as a Detroit(er) you are correct in having to really know the city to be a successful investor and the manufacturer mentality does need to be curbed.