@Wes Blackwell did a great job of mentioning turnkey options and the potential dangers of this type of investment.

The roof and the HVAC things are bad, but not a specific danger to your health, whereas the black mold can be. 

We have close to the same cashflow as a rental with fewer turnovers.  

I had been searching for a little while trying to find out if the second option was good at all, but it seems to be the way fewer people go.

There is a real shortage of SFH's.Lastly I think there are some specific risks to the city of Dallas, 1) the schools for the most part are terrible.  2) there are some real issues that may force the city itself into bankruptcy with regard to the Police and fire pension, its not clear how that could play out for property owners, but I have to think its not a good sign with higher taxes/fewer services/higher fees etc. 3) there are some major issues within the city of Dallas with regard to governance, use of federal funds etc.

My city will come remove dangerous limbs hanging over the power lines.

If me and my wife know we have $200K at our fingertips, that can be very dangerous, and how we have seen many people get into trouble during the crash.

If it's actually dangerous, yes, he could sue.You can make the tenant leave when you buy, because you are legitimately doing improvements, but if he refuses, you've bought yourself a huge headache, and there is really no way of knowing how that's going to play out until you bring it up. 

LOL  I remember buying in East palo Alto in the early 80s for 15k a house.. it was a true war zone.. everyone told me i was nuts I flipped them for 20 to 25k and thought I was the smartest dude on the planetI lived in PA at the time so it was ony 10 minutes to drive over and pick what I wanted to buy.. just needed to no go there at night... day time was fairly safe but still dangerous place back then.Richmond it seems the real ghetto areas have shrunk and you just have a lot of blue collar type home owners coming in... 

@Richard Bull I would not even consider Orange Park ... there are whole swaths of Jacksonville that are dangerous....block after block...and they try to glom on to St.