If the septic is in good shape and is maintained well it can reduce utility cost dramatically for renters/OO's alike. 

The expenses can dramatically be lowered assuming the fixtures in that building are older and not upgraded.

Hey there Peter,Thanks so much for the response; I would love to take you to lunch sometime and hear about your experiences and advice...If I may clarify; the outcome of this purchase has shifted DRAMATICALLY since my first posts (which were about another HUD property)...

Eventually they will balance out but I wouldn't expect anything as dramatic as the value appreciation.

Again, please keep in mind my area is dramatically different than yours.

My thoughts on dramatically raising the rents are that it will almost certainly cause the existing tenants to move out.

For CA to be down that much says something pretty dramatic that the data does not seem to back up.Comments?

Immediately my investor thinking realized that the government was dramatically increasing a population of non-mobile renters into a town that had been experiencing very little property appreciation and no recognition from the investment community at large.

Depending on the date and location of the house (as long as it was constructed after some semblance of building code existed in the area) you may not as dramatic difference between a 1950's house and house built in the early 90's in terms of long term maintenance.  

With the Chinese economy showing signs of a dramatic slowdown, and the European Union struggling to jumpstart the EuroZone economy, the U.S. dollar is likely to remain strong for some time to come.And that means millions of tonnes of ferrous scrap that would have gone to make steel overseas will remain in this country.So when the seller says you can get some scrap guy to haul it away for free,,,,think again LMAO