North Philly can really vary block by block, but Temple has a nice pocket around it with some real potential, especially as the school succeeds. 

# of units: 20all 1 bedroomall 360 sq ftasking price: $379k, down from $399kyear built: 1995 (pretty rough shape though)current vacancy rate: 30% (6 of the 20 units are vacant)current rent: $125, collected weeklylocation: decent... this property is probably the worst eye sore inside of a 3 block radiusworking class area... some gang-related concerns... all in all a pretty solid town expenses: all utilities... approximately $1,900 / monthrepairs needed: not sure at this point... 10k-20k would go a long way in improving the look and appeal of the property and would likely reduce vacancy ratecap rate: 9-10%Based on the numbers, this is without a doubt the best property I've looked at, but I have a few questions:What are the best ways to reduce vacancy rates, generally speaking?

You can find a fortune of interactive statistical information on the city, from income, property values, race, unemployment and a lot more-  and drill down to the level of zip code, neighbourhood or block by block info. 

There are even towns that won't let you put up a sign for a lemonade stand or garage sale at the end of the block.

Money invested with a return that will build the blocks to no longer need an alarm clock.I know of no other medium as tried and true or as stable as real estate.  

For the full time company 600-700 month but  not sure the best way to price out the h&r block commercial rental as they are only open there 3 months out of the year.

I called the city on Friday to discuss rezoning, but it was towards the end of the day - hope to hear back Monday.My thought process is to make this a nice 4 family to appeal to a better class of tenant, but also make it easier to sell in the future if need be.The surrounding area has SFH, apartments, and some industrial a few blocks away.  

It is pretty bad in the area now BUT there is hope; I've seen brand new townhouse complexes in the $350s and up erecting just along or a block away from 288 on the east side which is a first!

My research is pretty amateurish, but after reading the first few chapters of JScott's book, I put together a spreadsheet with a recently sold distressed property and four comps (super easy in this case, 3 were model matches within a couple blocks), and it seemed clear to me that the investor had only a slim margin between his purchase price and ARV (bought for 200k, 250 ARV).

Once the rehab is done, I can slow down a little and just focus on managing the managers; or more likely, buy another rehab project...BTW, I still keep an office in San Diego, on Black Mountain Road, about 2 blocks south of Miramar College.Erik