Your area is hot for buyers and sellers as is the whole valley.Take those comish checks and save half of them for Real Estate." a little less clothes and shoes and a little for for your future".IF ONLY MY WIFE COULD DO THIS!!!

Some of the old houses have the old knob and tube cloth like wiring.

That's great if you've already got good tenants, not so great if you're looking for tenants.COST OF LIVING:Even if the cost of living looks lower there, which I've never explored, if you need to buy a second set of clothes for the winter months, then you haven't saved that much money.

Clothes washer will be more of a priority at this price point for me.

They then have health care, food, clothing, place to live, possible significant other, car, family, and on and on.

My cleaning lady has left damp towels/linens a few times now which would cause mildew and unpleasant smelling laundry if I didn't catch the mistake. 

The old carpet makes a good drop cloth, kneeling pad and protects the hardwood from dropping a hammer until you get ready to refinish it if that's in the cards and reduces construction traffic on new carpet.Lots of considerations to each job, common sence should prevail and some backward planning needs to be done so you don't put some aspect of the job in front of another making it more difficult

If in 1935 you went to the bank to get financing to buy furniture or clothing they'd laugh at you.

A lot of the 2-4 unit properties in Cicero are due for a service upgrade, new panels and many of them also are full of cloth wiring that needs to be removed.

If you see mail addressed to other people, personal belongings (ie: clothing & toiletries that are not hers or her kids') then you might have reason to ask her about it.