With 1st installments of property taxes just having come out, it's a great time to revisit the thread.I invested in the Southside neighborhood of Chicago Heights as an out of state investor and the numbers looked great BUT the property taxes are a killer!

I have a killer agent on my team  that happily walks the properties with my contractor and she knows the market.

Plumbing - plumbing is the silent cash flow killer.

For the life of me, I cannot figure out how you make money in the long run in a flat or declining neighborhood unless you are on the ground, buying killer deals, and managing them well yourself.   

Wow - $50k or so in annual rental income on a $200k property, those numbers are killer!  

So yes, the 3 1/2% and the 1 1/2% can be deal killers where the first year or so you are paying off your acquisition costs before realizing a return. 

Cole Hamels is a Cubs killer, and I don't want Rollins or the Flyin' Hawaiian on the basses to get into Z's head even more.

Spray the whole area with Concrobium Mold Killer and possibly prime it with oil based KILZ primer. 

Then apply fertilizer which Does Not Contain weed killers.  

No matter the option you will need to get all of the loose paint off the wall...clean it with a little mildew killer (not totally necessary but I would)...then use a nice latex primer to seal the walls before you apply the top coat.