Had one issue (garbage disposal stopped working) in 15 months Lessons learned?

When I was earning a lot more than I needed, it was easy to take the risk with disposable money.I want to quickly point out that in order to really take advantage of getting these seemingly tremendously lucky deals, you need two things:1) Recognize the Opportunity and2) Be prepared (usually by having the money for it)When I started working in my professional IT Job, that gave me the preparation part.When I started learning about the financial calculations, especially Future Value, NPV, DCF, etc.

Capitalize on all of the free resources this site has available at your disposal.

Hey Tate, here's what my commercial lender @ US Bank uses for pro forma debt coverage calculations if he doesn't have 2 years and YTD historical data (basically, seller's schedule E's)Vacancy: 10% of gross rents, unless there is sufficient market data at the bank's disposal to justify lower vacancy rates for the type of asset in question, OR detailed historical vacancy data from seller.Management: 3% gross rents or actuals, whichever is higher, with property management agreement provided to close.Cash Reserves: 3% of gross rentsTaxes: Actual data used.Insurance: 3% of gross rents, or as shown by insurance policy.Operating reserve: 20% - 25% depending on the type of asset and amount of historical data provided.

Appliances included are a refrigerator, electric stove, above stove microwave, garbage disposal and dish washer.

My Salary rose from an Entry level programmer of $32k in 1997 to well over $100k by the year 2000.What also helped was that I lived below my means.Combining having a good paying profession and living below my means, it allowed me to pursue Investments with Disposable money.

The Kitchen was upgraded with new cabinets, granite countertops, garbage disposal, stainless steel appliances that include the following:Bathrooms remodeledAll hardware and doors replacedCeiling fans throughout the homeUpgraded electrical switches and outlets2 car garage What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Therefore, you can change the locks and dispose of their things. 

title insurance is like any other insurance you only need it when you acutally need it.I have a access claim going now 3 years probably 50k minimum title company has spent ..just the cost of doing business.Only time i would consider not buying it is say a tax sale or other very cheapo type properties that i had no intention of borrowing against or reselling.. buy and hold forever and then dispose of when done.

@Deven Wolfe It's ok to be under water if  you are buying the property at a huge discount, have plenty of disposable income to pay the shortfall, and have significant reserves for repairs.