Oh, and make sure you have Workers Comp on the guys you hire to help unload.Ahahaha, after they got done realizing what was going on I never heard another peep.....Got my first license in '83, all these years I never realized I was a hostage-taking price-gouger......Damn.

A key component to cash flow will be loan terms..you could consider trying to incorporate a seller concession towards an interest rate buy down or costs to help improve cash on cash returns.

Make them cut the grass.

Probably cut it to $850/month for such a small place. 

I want to cut my teeth on my first real estate deal within twelve months of moving, and I am interested in starting my investment career with a fourplex.

As well as moving from higher cap ex exposure to lower cap ex exposure.Cash flow may go down but when the other components of the IRR go up ( appreciation, depreciation, and amortization of the loan) your IRR goes to the moon and more than offsets any drop in cash flowJust make sure you stress test and can withstand any drop in cash flow.

Or did they just have the funds in the bank to cut a check?

But I've also had something going on in my personal life that have brought me down a couple of days after Christmas... and That's also when I basically made a decision of cutting down my usual social events and fully focus on RE for now.

With a PM in place you will have to pay them their cut and to go back to the second part if you end up buying in a lower class area you will be getting a lot of turn around it’s just the way it is.

Also the outside will need the shrubs to bet cut, a good power washing, etc.