Make sure you get comparables (market values of similar properties).

Yes, compared to other markets the per sqft prices are not as extreme as they once were.

For instance, I recently did a search and compared Zillow's estimate with my own comps that I pulled on the area.

What is your projected IRR and how does that compare with other options like stocks or bonds?

The first thing you need to do is to research comparable prices in this area.

You can check with your state's corporation commission or comparable agency for the specific language.

The key thing to remember is that lenders will compare debt to income along with credit score.

Based upon this data we are looking at a projection of over 50 Major Disasters to hit the US by the end of 2006In addition, we are still recovering from fires in California, Colorado, New New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.Yet, we are still going to have to deal with past Hurricane damage.And we still face dry conditions in various parts of the United States that produce fires and we have yet to step into the Atlantic hurricane season that lasts from June to November, with the peak season from mid-August to late October.On top of all this over 350 tornadoes have been recorded as of April and this could be one of the most active and deadly seasons in historyFor more data see: http://www.spc.noaa.gov and To compare from 2005 to 2006 see: http://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/online/monthly/index.htmlAs an investor we are tough to research property titles, market value and market trends but one major area that is left out is storm trends.Why storm trends.

In my area I find that the estimates on this website are too high, but it does give you recent (comparable) sales in the area which is useful.

The elements tend to beat the crap out of houses that aren't maintained.Mice, termites, roaches, rats, mold... those are just a few issues that the house may have currently.To get to the point... find out who boarded it up?