Paint comes off wood paneling really easily.You can repair small scratches in wood paneling by rubbing some Min Wax "fruitwood" over them and then wipping it off with a cotton cloth.

I've never seen that "abandoned" notice but I did go to one vacant short sale where personal mementos and clothes were thrown all over the place, and the back door was wide open.I think it is good news for you as a buyer, if you are interested.

The more money they have, the more likely they will be able to pay you, after they pay for their 2 new cars, cable bill, kids new clothes, fast food, and everything else.

Water at 125 per building sounds very cheap and understated.I can tell you when the landlord pays the water bill tenants take LONG showers,do not report leaks (running commodes,bathtubs dripping,washer leaks,etc.) and they let others was cars and use their washer dryer for clothes.125 by 4 is 31.25 a unit for water each month.I would demand the actual water bills for proof for the past year.If it's built in 1971 what about the lead based paint EPA renovation rules??

Architecture is fashion just like clothing.

As long as the rent is paid and they are quiet I don't care.Now when people get in hard times I find 3 people turn into 10 people living under one unit 2 beds,2 1/2 baths.The problem is the people that were qualified credit and criminal are on the lease and the others are not.So the unknown people have not been qualified to see if they will be a problem or not.More people wear down the units faster,cause noise with extra vehicles,and parking issues.Our water is not sub-metered and is paid by us the landlord.Extra people taking a shower,flushing the toilet,washing clothes,cooking etc. runs up the water bill.Water company says people use about 60 gallons a day on average according to statistics.I know there is fire code limits but I was thinking of having in lease max of 4 people and anything over that is 50 dollars per month per person.This would cover extra water bill and help with extra turning costs with the heavier traffic usage.

I recently brought up my interest in obtaining some BP threads(this is slang for clothes for you older folk).

You can also take small clothing items and place them in sealed bags with a couple of dryer sheets.

There were a couple of units that I did not see on the first pass that we went into.1 unit is absolutely filthy (pizza boxes, clothes, trash, etc everywhere throughout apartment) and the other unit is a lady's that has been renting for about 35 years he said (she is around 80) and she has wallpapered everything, even wallpapered the ceilings with some sort of white paper!

You can deny any applicant S-8 or non S-8 for any reason, even bad breath, sloppy clothes etc, as long as you are not discriminating against any as a protected clss as defined by law, like race, religion, sex, age,etc.