The most common two things to destroy a budget is a car loan and groceries/eating out.  

As Christine mentioned it is very hard for most of these fire damaged or destroyed homes to be rebuilt in a "cost-effective" way.

He destroyed my record for one year on airbnb, I made sure in my answer readers get the message.

Last time I tried to do someone with money problems a favor, they left me with $5000 rent owed, and when I went into the property to get it ready for the next tenant, it had been destroyed, (not maliciously, but destroyed nevertheless) it cost me $22,000 to get the property ready for the next tenant.  

Is there anything we should be aware of when we are buying these properties other then the fact the inside might be destroyed?

albany is great for investors looking to get into the business. like most already said appreciation is not really there depending on what you paid for properties. i love the market up there most my properties are two family houses that were purchased for 70k and lower and my returns are over 20% in D areas i like the section 8 program you can find good section 8 clients that wont destroy your property and they have plenty of other programs that help when people cant afford there portion of the rent also clients can lose there section 8 voucher if they do not pay which is a good thing for owners. that being said 2 3bdrm apartments section 8 pays 1300$ each thats 2600$ minus taxes and garbage you will make over 20k a year off lets say 60-100k investment who wins?

Also, you said you are not an investor, so you're probably not ready for problems like tenants not paying the mortgage, evictions, repairs costing more than you think, and, especially, turnover costs on such a big home, especially if the tenants don't pay but their kids have destroyed the carpets and written all over the walls.

This destroys credibility.* Communication is another key ingredient that cannot be overlooked.

Therefore you purchase it based on the LAND VALUE only minus what it would cost you to destroy the house.In this way you purchase a condemned house valued at say 100k for the land value of 8K minus destruction costs.

I know I have some quality time coming up with the tile saw to finish repairing the bathroom destroyed in the flood.These little saws aren't toys, but they are speciality tools.