Three major issues:1) Two of the three tenants are smokers.2) One of the tenants has a cat (which I knew of going into the deal) and another tenant brought a kitten into the unit (without notifying me or the other tenants, for that matter).3) Two of the tenants are male and one (the one with seniority on the lease) is female.

The long story short is the 8 unit has 8 gas meters for the units cooking, but the 9th meter is the house meter and fires and OLD furnace, I have all the utility bills including the bad winter months. 

If the property is in Cook County, the original YELLOW open item bills must be brought to closing and presented to the title company so that they can pay the open item bills at Closing (or shortly thereafter)Assuming that the Buyer is on the hook for the payment: Same mechanics. 

There is no guarantee the next tenant will be any better, they may be dirtier and not pay rent at all.I have inherited heavy smokers, but they have already been smoking in the unit for years. 

It's not from a former smoker, and it doesn't smell damp. 

It's not even cooked, it should be done by now!"   

There will always be school teachers, city workers, cooks, sale clerks and they need a place to live. 

In other words is the seller or management company "cooking the books".Example.1.Taking money from another account and making the tenants look like they are paying on time and in full to show 100% occupancy.2.Giving rent credits like first 1/2 month off apartment rent,or full month rent off,or no security deposit,pet deposit,etc. to inflate occupancy.3.Retail leased properties where market rent was 18sq ft but the landlord is selling because lease is coming up for renewal and if tenant doesn't get 12sq ft they will upgrade to the new grocery anchored shopping center that used to be 22 sq ft and is now 18. 4.Watch out for pre-foreclosure volume and foreclosure volume for your area.What I mean is when a buyer purchases a distressed property for below market value they can then rent at a lower basis and still make the same or better profit than you.I have seen this first hand.I have seen rents for apartments 2 bed be 650 a month.Then a few foreclosures happen that buyers purchase cheap for cash.They come on the market and rent for 550 a month.The buyers rent low to get the best tenants to choose from and build occupancy quick.Then over time they will up the rents.What this does is put tremendous pressure on landlords already hurting that have high debt service loans.Then those get foreclosed on and a domino effect happens until the market settles.So my main point is don't count on current rent or future rent.I look at where the market is going and correcting to and buy really low so you have room in case the worst happens.This will exclude many properties.If you make great income form other than real estate and just want a tax shelter with pay down etc. then you might look at it differently.

I guess they eat sandwiches all summer since they can't cook.

What a couple of cooks they were.