I am very data driven and I simply don't see Philly as an attractive destination unless you are -- local, hands on, DIY, don't have prop mgmt expenses, don't pay leasing commissions, get preferred rates from lenders, know a guy who does handyman work, etc. 

DIY will be the "cheapest" - you can set up an account on the MA DOR website, register your LLC, you pay over the whopping $500 MA charges you to register an LLC, and voila, you are off to the races.

We wouldn't use it the field because of legality issues with claims they make, we use something a little much more concentrated, but it's great solution for someone who's trying to DIY it.Tests can be great to minimize the what IFs people have and to get a tenant to stop bothering you about it, we have worked with a number of landlords in the past just giving them information so their tenant had some piece of mind.

I see solid surface kits for $800+ but I’m not wanting to spend that in apartments when I found these 4 tiles for $382.

G'Day Bob,Not many "true" turnkey companies around anymore and I've seen a trend where investors want to DIY out of state and country.Personally, I think this is an even bigger recipe for disaster than buying turnkey.bBut that's just my opinion.Back in the day you had many "turnkey" companies selling crappy properties in crappy areas for a lot more than market value.Then they pass you on to a 3rd party PM that nickel and dimes you to death.Granted, if you want to DIY I would always advise moving to the market that you want to invest in.Spending enough time with key people needed to make your venture a success.Yep, easier said than done 🤷‍♂️If you DIY from out of state, you will probably find an "investor friendly" agent that will flog you expensive property from the MLS, refer a "good" contractor and then you will most likely also get nickel and dimed by a referred "trustworthy" PM.IMO, you are safer finding a reputable turnkey provider in a market that you want to invest in and go from there.If $#%@ hit's the fan (Which it always does in real estate), at least you have everyone to blame under the same roof.A true turnkey provider will have everything an out of state investor would/want and need under the same roof.No finger pointing is allowed lolI'm bias as we offer turnkey so take my words with a grain of salt.Just happy to offer my 0.2 Aussie cents.Wishing you much success

Some states offer free test kits, maybe check that, and if this is the state where your unit is, sounds like you may have to do it anyway for next tenant.

Long-Term: Appreciation, loan amortization, potential tax benefits, and housing expense savings.I'd say the unexpected benefits of learning property management, deal finding, project management, renovations, and DIY-ing were more impactful than I initially thought.

But a house hack is a perfect use case to DIY property management. 

G'Day Trevor,Just posted the same below to another investor asking about turnkey and my advice stays the same 😁There aren't many "true" turnkey companies around anymore and I've seen a trend where investors want to DIY out of state and country.Personally, I think this is an even bigger recipe for disaster than buying turnkey.But that's just my opinion.Back in the day you had many "turnkey" companies selling crappy properties in crappy areas for a lot more than market value.Then they pass you on to a 3rd party PM that nickel and dimes you to death.Granted, if you want to DIY I would always advise moving to the market that you want to invest in.Spending enough time with key people needed to make your venture a success.Yep, easier said than done 🤷‍♂️If you DIY from out of state, you will probably find an "investor friendly" agent that will flog you expensive property from the MLS, refer a "good" contractor and then you will most likely also get nickel and dimed by a referred "trustworthy" PM.IMO, you are safer finding a reputable turnkey provider in a market that you want to invest in and go from there.If $#%@ hit's the fan (Which it always does in real estate), at least you have everyone to blame under the same roof.A true turnkey provider will have everything an out of state investor would/want and need under the same roof.No finger pointing is allowed lolI'm bias as we offer turnkey so take my words with a grain of salt.Just happy to offer my 0.2 Aussie cents.Wishing you much success

Cabinets: is cabinet staining something you'd recommend as a DIY?