- Rent: $1550 per month- Vacancy: 5% -Capex 6.5%-Repairs 3%- Water and Sewer and electric and trash and HOA: $0- Insurance: $90 a month- Property management: $155 per month- Property tax: $375 a monthThis leaves me at $166 cash flow per month , $1992 per year.

You may also consider a property out-of-state.The one positive you have is you're young and have the investing savvy and bug...good for you.  

to give me an initial idea of what we're dealing with.I have a hunch that the damage will be more than the FMV of the house...I have to believe this is $50k+ worth of damage by the time you factor smoke and water damage, plus electrical and structural components.

Hi Melissa, The Auction i was in was Ending 24Hrs from My post Date, And there were Simply Too Many Houses & I Did not Have Them Narrowed Down Enough as the Auction of 6,800 Houses Closed .Although I Learned A lot throughout the  (Online Tax-Foreclosure ) Auction process, This Part/the " Legal Land Description + Matching it to a " plat Map" Really shook me and ate up Most all of my time Trying to figure this out ,As people/the County were "selling an Address" only to find out it was a Vacant piece of Land next to the home that they hadn't paid the taxes on.This was Frightening that i would purchase Something a Home only to find out it was Not a Home at All.ANYHOW , I WANTED TO GET BACK AND THANK YOU (though this seems alot of work for 1 home when looking at 100s-1000s to Analyse) Wish there were a More Accessable way for the public to match up these "Legal Land Descriptions" Rather then Feeling as if your "Bugging" an Agency for their info..Esp if for Several different properties.I will be Entering another Auction in a Week or so & (Although i will really need to narrow down my interests to use this method) I AGAIN AM GREATFUL FOR THE INFO & WANT TO THANK YOU SO MUCH, I LITERALLY COULD NOT FIND ANY, UP TO DATE,  LEGITIMATE RESOURCES,HOPEFULLY THIS WILL HELP NEXT TIME :)

Glad you have caught the investor bug, and now all you have to do is follow your passion.

Now, due to our variety of tasks, I am competent in the areas of excavation, concrete, wood framing, flooring, roofing, some electrical, and some plumbing.

Is is cheaper to replace with a existing gas stove or convert to electric?

We were informed 2 days before moving in that they only had a temporary CO and that some additional electrical work needed to be completed. 

Plus how would she make any repairs with no electricity.

I know of a great HVAC and Electrical company they serve Charlotte and all surrounding areas They are EcoGreen Home Services The phone number is 704-237-4100 and they have a website www.ecogreenhomeservices.com