But on the surface, from the cheap seats, it sounds like a great opportunity to learn and grow the business you want.

It does appear odd on the surface, but what you aren't seeing is that the down payment does come back to you but not at closing, it normally comes back as the rehab progresses or after rehab.

On the surface, it looks nice.

Benjamin is right, all soft surface items like carpets and blinds are trash.  

Just thinking on the surface, and being shallow brained, because that's what strikes me first when I see places on Craigslist or other sites in my area when I'm personally looking to rent a new house.Try your best to put yourself in your prospective tenants' shoes from start to finish, what is your ad saying, how are you interacting, etc.Glad its rented!

I made a copy of the rental analysis template my business uses: Michelle's Rental AnalysisOn the surface, the deal seems to have tight, if not negative cashflow.

You need a fairly smooth, finished surface.  

But then what the plumber said about the shower turn us totally off.According to him, all the mold on the surface came from the moisture inside the sheet rock.

Home inspectors only find the most obvious of defects and only surface issues, and that's if you're extremely lucky.

Very clean looking house, really, it doesn't appear from the surface you'll have a whole lot of time tied up in that one.