Use greenboard if you build a new bathroom and also a more moisture resistant paint, such as a good semi-gloss.Retrofitting older bathrooms with fans is not always easy, because you ideally need to vent to the outside. 

I just transferred to Cal Poly SLO from the Bay Area; now that I've quit the job I had in community college and there's less pressure to get perfect grades, I have a lot more free time, and I look forward to seizing my time here to finally take some action.San Luis Obispo, like the Bay Area, is expensive, so starting out locally isn't ideal.I'm unfamiliar with the area and am wondering if anyone can speak to semi-nearby (1-3 hour radius) areas that are more affordable but still 'desirable' and worth looking into.

those are rates are semi private HML rates.. is that who you are using.. not a bank right ?

Pardon the semi-rhetorical question but do you issue a notice to terminate tenancy to a paying tenant on the assumption you're going to face problems down the road and swallow the cost of rehabbing a unit or two?

I am sort of semi retired now, but still involved in designing residential projects and in fact in the middle of my own residential development, a small one not more than 10 units, one, a mansion with a swimming pool and private tennis court and the other 9 units to be 3 bedroom 2 bath units stacked on top of each other using shipping containers. 

Hi All,Long time listener and lurker, finally about to pull the trigger and make an offer on my first property (a duplex in a semi-rural town in the pacific northwest).Numbers:Mortgage: $570 (with 20% down, $28,000)Insurance: $75Taxes: $110Maintenance budget:  $200Property management: $165Utilities (owner is paying currently): $185 -- note: I plan to change this at lease renewalTotal expenses: $1,305Rental income (minus 5% vacancy estimate): $1,560Cash flow: $1,560 - $1,305 = $255Info:Duplex (2x 2bed+1bath)It had quite a few renovations done.

She has asked Nicely, All the way to Semi-Threatened him with Petty things to get the PaperWork Back, But this All Feels as if Hes Just Stalling  (Saying tomorrow Etc) , So He Can Buy Time to Screw Her Out of this Home Somehow.Again He Has the Title & 20sheets of Paperwork, Hes Been Threatened to return the Paperwork after Keeping it for 14 days instead of 1...HE MUST BE TRYING AND/OR DOING SOMETHING TO GET THIS HOME.SO, PLEASE CAN ANYONE TELL ME IF ITS POSSIBLE FOR HIM TO TAKE A QUIT CLAIM DEED,GET LAWYERS INVOLVED (or something) AND TAKE THIS HOME FROM HER?????

Since my first (and semi successful attempt) I haven't done a ton more. 

@Scott Palmer My background is similar to yours, retired now, but worked in corporate finance, systems, programming, and when I semi retired, bookkeeping. 

BP colleagues,My husband and I are embarking on our first SFH short term rental that is 4 hours away from us in a semi-rural area of Texas.