The property offered a balanced investment opportunity—enough to significantly enhance its value through renovations, yet manageable in scope and cost.

Through my experience, I’ve cultivated a conservative approach that balances opportunity with risk management that I apply to every deal that crosses my desk.

@Robert Spiegel Great question, and it’s always a balancing act when dealing with long-term tenants who’ve been fantastic overall.Based on my experience managing over 1,200 rental homes in North Texas, including areas like Dallas, Fort Worth, Plano, and Frisco, here’s how I would approach this:Cleaning Charge: While $540 may feel steep, it can vary depending on the size of the property and local market rates.

Monty, take a small amount of time to work on your credit daily.

A partnership requires three things to be successful - Experience, Capital and Time.It looks like you have the capital and experience but maybe not the time.I have my doubts about this working if you have a friend who has weak credit and a limited cash flow.

Treat this property as a business and factor in all the associated expenses, including mortgage payments (if you pull a loan), maintenance, and potential vacancy periods.To simplify management and make this less of a hands-on job, I’d strongly recommend working with a property management company.

I was a SWO for 8 years, and the best thing I did to improve my financial life was real estate investing. 

There are some great neighborhoods here that balance cash flow and appreciation, like Fountain Square and Bates-Hendricks, and parts of Irvington.

Integrations work fantastic.

Its hard to find deals unless you are connected, advertise a lot, cold call a lot, knock a lot, and/or work very hard at it.