Right now I'm just looking at properties all over the place learning how to analyze a property etc but as somebody that is looking to make their first investment, i want to avoid if possible the extra outlays that can potentially come with an older house. 

Quote from @Hector Espinosaor Espinosa: Quote from @Jared Smith: I would tell myself to figure out how to buy it if it is close to making sense and don't squabble over an extra couple thousand dollars that you are only paying 20-30% of at close anyways.

Promissory notes in general, as they have no collateral, seem a bit higher risk, perhaps mortgage note investing which are backed by residential and sometimes even commercial real estate would be a safer alternative, and yet very lucrative, too,  8-12% yieldsFor extra returns, I put a small portion of my portfolio into BDCs, Business development companies, that specialize in loaning money to growing businesses which are too high risk to get loans from proper banks.

Without complete financials up to that point, extra work (and headache) will be required to get everything straight after years of failure to keep complete financials.There also might be an asset protection wrinkle by not maintaining complete books for an LLC, but I won't comment on that as I'm not an attorney.

You might find that they could charge enough extra rent to pay for themselves.

(Just don't tell your lender that you are going to do that) The umbrella policy is an extra layer.

How certain of the appreciation are you would also play into that question.Run some scenarios on what you could do with the extra cash vs what you stand to gain from the appreciation play and decide based on that and your goals.

Do you have extra space on your property for other storage? 

If you can buy all your kitchen appliances at once and ask for an extra discount or at least free delivery & installation, that's great too.

May be worth the extra cash on hand and leaving it in the deal.