If you bought in an undesirable area/neighborhood then this is a bigger problem.

There might be damage to a farmer's crop or fields, and dirt/sandy roads in some areas, but the residential property damage is usually limited to a few inches of water and mud in a few houses caused by flash flooding in random locations, or bad roofs during a heavy rain.

My late charges are designed to discourage undesirable behavior, not really as another income source.

We use cap rate to evaluate a property and to get a 10% cap you usually have to buy extremely distressed properties or buy in undesirable areas.

The pathway from the second house to the parking area is a big mud pit.

They've never lived in a low-income area or in a mobile home, so they think only druggies and thugs live in them.Those of us who've lived in these places know that yes, there are some undesirables, but there are other areas that are safe and full of hardworking people who need a good place to live. 

I'd place a strip of mesh tape over each crack, a thin layer of mud, and then finish off with popcorn texture.

The condition was undesirable to home buyers/owner occupants because it's difficult to picture yourself living in a place that was previously so, well, smelly and dirty.How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Is one of the cities better than the other and what areas in each of the cities are desirable/undesirable?

The grand living room has 20-foot ceilings with rustic wood beams, a catwalk that spans across the space and a grand stone fireplace which opens up to the den with a built-in bar, a guest bathroom one on end, dining room, spacious country kitchen, main entry, mud room and another guest bathroom on the other wing of the home.