The backyards of the surrounding neighbors though, didn't look very nice. 3 out of 5 had sheds in their backyards that looked like they were falling apart, and one of the sheds was almost as tall as the house. 2 out of 5 also had a canopy/tent type thing and they both were discolored with holes in them, but they were still propped up.

Make sure to walk every inch of the home for soft spots and to find hidden leaks. 

They say the windshield on a car is six feet wide and the rear view mirror is 6 inches wide for a reason. 

As far as holes in the walls, it is unfortunate that some tenants use large nails to hang pictures and they make other holes in the walls for who knows why, but repairing even large holes 12" x 12" inches won't bust your piggy bank because we freshen every unit when a tenant moves with a coat of paint and if you are using a painter worth his weight in salt then he should be able to patch a few very large holes within 1 or 2 hours and the cost for materials should be no less than $30 to not one penny more than $50.You will just waste your time and aggravate yourself by feeling your are a victim and you have been violated.

“While overall occupancy should inch down very slightly, that slight shift really just reflects the volume of product moving through initial lease-up, rather than any real softening in the performances of most individual existing communities,” Willett said.Rents will likely continue to rise, but at a slower pace than is seen now.

Geez, I need a tall glass of hard liquor after reading this (still smh @ title co forgot to seal the envelop and 70 pages were MIA - murder!).

But sometimes seller's just go dark after being just inches away from a signed contract.

I recently bought a short sale rental house that has some rooms with the floor 1-3 inches higher.  

As a 6'3" tall person, I would laugh a bit at seeing such a short bathroom.

The reason why I believe that is because when homes are vacant for an extended period of time, and the grass is very tall, typically the city will send someone over to mow the lawns and then forward the bill to property owner.