It sounds like you bought a crap hole in the city of Atlanta for cheap.I really hope that's not the case.High taxes and bad rehab jobs make these properties real losers.I looked at the 2 years ago for a few months traveling all over the area.At the time they were priced at about 30,000 a house.I was looking at the area because my area in the burbs 45 minutes out was dropping but still at about 85,000 a property which was too high for me.Now in Atlanta some of these places are going for 5,000 and in my area which is much nicer has gone down to the 30's to 50's a property.I specifically do not buy older places in Atlanta.If you know the market there were these groups say 4 to 5 years ago.They came in and did hack jobs and then flipped these properties for crazy amounts.They took the money and ran making over 100k a property and the appraisers were involved to.They did nothing but put pretty lipstick on a turd.Now these properties have galvanized pipes,foundation issues,lead based paint,asbestos,mold,knob and tube wiring mix with current wiring,radon,etc.It sounds like with this turn key company they are padding fees on the back end.Real estate brokers that sold REO used to do this kind of stuff.They would only be making say 2% on the sale of the property.So for the trash out the REO broker would use a company that had ownership in and make up the money over billing the servicer or bank.This lasted for about 6 months to 1 year and banks caught onto it which is why they use third parties to ensure they get the best pricing now for all of the steps in selling an REO.Anytime I hear "turn-key" I would run away.I have not had experience with them but have heard nightmare story after nightmare story on here.It sounds easier for a company to dupe an out of state investor than one on the ground that can watch what they are doing like a hawk.This property management company knows they are padding.Why else would they put a clause if you cancel you pay all of this money??

You can have a surveyor do a spot elevation at the foundation of the home and if they say it is not in the flood plain (with improvements made) you can be in the clear.Good luck...

I thought he could continue living in his existing house/mobile home, when this all began 8 years ago.He ended up having to move a double wide modular and putting it on its own block foundation, septic, new electrical service,,,now remodeling to bring up to date.City has paid 8 to 10 K per acre for surrounding land back when land was selling for 2kto 3500k now land has doubled.

While it might seem picky, it's a safety issue since most homeowners don't know how to build a foundation or run electricity so the house doesn't burn down.You will not be able to sell this property to a buyer trying to obtain FHA financing.

To put it in another way - the house you're describing sounds like it's past foundation, framing, roof and sub-floor.

wow thanks for all the great information. eric thank you for letting me know what was useful to you. i will look into purchasing that course. and thank you bill for all of the helpful pointers. i wasnt trying to imply that i wanted to learn everything from a guru course, but i have to start somewhere. and i currently spend a couple hours a day educating myself through sites like bp and also books, But like i said earlier some of the books out there are so complicated that it seems only a savy investor could understand them. i have also thought about taking courses for getting a license however i will probably only use it for the knowledge and not actually persue a license. i figure it would be a great step to getting a foundation on real estate basics. once again thank you all for your great insight.

Foundation repair is not uncommon in some areas so possibly some type of rehab loan fha has there 203k.

Will we eventually see our dollar value tied into a foundation of gold again?

It takes a bit longer to do things this way, but it is a more solid foundation to build on in my opinion – the good deals will keep coming, and all you’ll have to do is pick up the phone.

Off the top of my head we look at the roof condition, windows, exterior condition (rotting wood, broken siding, cracks in brick, etc), gutters and downspouts, yard and landscaping, general curb appeal / potential, grading, light fixtures, trim, doors, driveways, sidewalks, etc.4)We have flipped houses with foundation issues, mold damage, electric overhauls, etc, so it is not what you need to avoid per say, but being able to put a price-tag on issues and accurately estimate rehab costs and value after the repairs are completed.