If it could be efficiently extracted from the property, this $2,563 could also be viewed as a return of principal, which reduces the owner’s equity investment from $82,322 to $79,759.

My places always showed well, had high efficiency A/C (important in a place where you're cooling the house 8 months a year) solar reflective screens, extra attic insulation, garage door openers, etc.

My question is would it be a bad move to purchase a home and rent it out while we wait for the neighborhood to improve?

Quandra Adams What they paid is irrelevant as it only leads into a discussion of what they have or haven’t done to the property to improve it.

I guess it is a number thing, which leads me to one last question (I promise not to bug you too much):  How do you allocate your time efficiently; is it heavily invested in crunching numbers and finding the right piece of property to invest in, or do you spend more time on the rehab component of the project itself?  

After you get that commission check what do you spend your money on to improve your real estate business? 

Because of the improvements, i assume no repairs were needed.So here is the kicker.

The property is in the Oakhills school district (one of the better Highschools on the West side of town)@ EveryoneThanks everyone for the advice, I'm going to start making as many small changes/improvements as I can now with the intention of asking the current tenants to leave after their lease expires.

Eventually some of the therapists moved to a different location and the atmosphere really improved.  

This may require increasing his income for a short time working extra and cutting back on non-essential lifestyle things or improvements to the property, which isn't his yet.