The other thing could be tracking what you have had come up on the last 5-10 projects after closing, i.e. the water heater was at the end of life when we bought the last 6 out of the last 10 properties.

This is where we will go back to your primary goal (Owning a cool property that you use sometimes vs. a pure investment property). 

The best defense against rats entering your property is to seal off all entry points (holes, cracks in walls), remove food sources (dirty dishes, food left in trash cans), and water sources (like leaks). 

If you have a older home that has never shown signs of foundational issues, and it has a new(er) roof, electric, plumbing, HVAC, hot water heater, etc.

You may have a 1M policy, but 25K for mold limit.Cracked water pipe MAY be covered.

And I did buy 13 lot package in Henry county but it was all sewer and water.. smokin deal 3k a lot held them 2 years and sold for 35k a lot :)@Jay Hinrichs excellent advice - always appreciate your insight!

Very cool piece of real estate, unfortunately it doesn't even make sense at the $650k asking price.

So, if your property has all bills paid by the tenant, you will deduct from the voucher amount the set amount by bedroom count for items like water, electric, gas, etc.

The current owner is letting me take over the property as a tenant as long as I pay the water bill and the mortgage payment on it and whenever I decide I can purchase property for the balance of the mortgage  they are in no hurry for me to purchase the home as long as the mortgage is paid. 

I would build the big house and do a cool deck out towards the creek.