And it ended up costing me more, probably over a grand more, because of my reluctance to proactively replace it. 

I love tenants with baby grand pianos!

The property is back on the market so if anyone wants a 5500sf lot in one of Grand Rapids, MI hottest neighborhoods (less than a block from Wealthy/Eastern) hit me up.  

NO test for developer just bond and insurance.. and 300 bucks or so to the state but it cost a few grand for the bond and insurance and this can be the rub for those that don't have good enough credit for a bond or insurance..  

I always thought CA had high property taxes I pay over 20 grand a year in property taxes on just my personal houses not including investment property 

I guess my thought is for those that keep their day job have a good paying day job don't need a few grand a year from a rental to pay bills.. what better use than to pay down debt.. be it CC  Car or the property. just get out of debt period.

Parts of South Dallas, Cedar Hill, Grand Prairie, Lancaster, etc.

@Michael ThorneWow that's very nice of you Michael giving back to the community, that's part of the reason why I want to become an investor, to give back to the community and help make housing more affordable for those in real need. i grew up in Arlington, grand praire area and I'm currently studying the local market its where I plan to buy my duplex,however this market is in short supply and with all this bidding going on it makes it more difficult.

Assuming 300K down, my monthly payment breakdown would be: $2,517 (30-year mortgage), $1,300 (HOA), $100 (insurance), $710 (property taxes), and $300 (utilities/misc.) for a grand total of $4,927 a month.

The clay pipe had broke and the water had eroded so much soil in the crawl it looked like the Grand Canyon!