ADD THIS ONE TO YOUR PORTFOLIO TODAY"Of course, sellers list these properties as having all the potential in the world, but I'm not sure how to see through the fluff. I

What I (and probably others in a similar position would be interested in seeing) are some actual real life numbers (not fluffy opinions) from experienced property management companies who work in those areas (I'm looking at you @Douglas Skipworth, @alex craig, @James Wachob, @Chris Clothier, @James Martin, @Curt Davis).Most of you are using professional property management software (such as PropertyWare, Appfolio, yardi, buildium, etc.) that makes finding this information about your portfolio fairly straight forward.

The last thing I would want is Fluffy, the neighbor's dog, to take a very long nap.  

If duplexes are hot right now and selling like pancakes, and you can't buy one at the price you want, then don't buy them, sell them ... and you don't need to own them to sell them either ... that's what real estate agents do, they sell real estate that they don't own, and after all of your research and time in the market, I bet you know more about duplexes than 90% of the other agents out there in your market.

You might charge other people $300 more per week to rent, but this could be a way to get the deal done if the numbers still work.Is Fluffy, their favorite dog buried on the property?

This fact allows me a larger tenant pool of renters AND increased revenue in the way of non-refundable pet deposits and rents for 'fluffy'.As far as kitchen, I go stainless steel appliances and laminate counters.  

Alright, enough with the fluffy mumbo jumbo, here's the deal.The Deal:Market:Choosing Cleveland came down to a couple things:-I had people I could trust already investing in those areas so I knew I could learn from them and rely on their advice-I had a strict criteria of finding a duplex as my first deal and there was an ample amount of those in B-/C+ neighborhoods-There was decent job stability in overall city though I still have some reservations around the declining population growth-There was 4 unique economies where there wasn't one economy that had more than 25% of the industry share-The purchase prices was affordable and within the budget I was comfortable investing with-The median income to rent ratio was right around 30%The House:How: Automated listing on the MLS.

Other than the door being destroyed, the tenant purposefully destroyed all of the blinds, dumped rice, confectioner's sugar, and pancake mix everywhere in the apartment (carpets, yuck), and turned the thermostat down on the refrigerator so everything would spoil. 

The "wholesaling flipping only"crowd out there in REAL ESTATE INVESTING are missing the boat, like having pancakes every day for breakfast

Thus, a lot of my posts are not soft and fluffy like "yes you go take money from someone when you have never done a deal in your life" - but providing constructive feedback.You will find that the others who posted to this comment are very similar.