@John Jacksonand I are good friends.He lives in Texas and has mastered lease option assignments in TX, not easy in TX.In 2002 he and I became friends, and I trained him on the basics of cooperative assignments, where you enter into a lease and an option with the seller as a principal, not as an agent but a principal.You then assign the deal for a fee of generally 3 to 5%.In the example above for $100Kthey owe $95,000If they listed for a $100K, sellers would have to pay the cost to sell, which include the following:– commissions 3 to 6%– closing costs 2%– sellers concessions 3 to 6%– vacancy costs we have to pay the PITI while is being sold, let’s say $1000×4 months, and this includes electric , heat, watering lawns, garbge, and so forth– spruce up costs, such as painting a wall or replacing a carpet, or fixing a fence.Many sellers don’t have a lot of cash in the bank, and they don’t want to get more debt on a credit card fix up their house and they can sell it.So this particular seller would probably pay 10% to 15% of the value of the property to sell with an agent quickly.

as an owner do you pay water and sewer even after you rent it out? 

This is because the unknown water looks so deep and murky; however, the biggest advice I can give you is take a look in the area you live, or an area that is a little more affordable outside of where you live! 

If you have gas to the water heater and the furnace, I have to imagine 150A is fine for most SFR, but again, the electrician can do the load calculations.As for price, I don't know the prices in Phili, but I can't imagine $1900 is too expensive. 

The appraiser is mistaken about water damage.

We have been in a drought for so long that some dudes were able to dump some troubled properties without anyone knowing they were water drainage nightmares.

I gave it a good spray with the hose to get all the dried carpet fuzz and old urine off and I think that it's just soaked into the wood now and maybe all I did was reliquify it.  

Make sure you have underwritten the replacement cost and remaining useful life of the major systems (roof, windows, hvac, hot water, kitchen appliances, flooring) and that you are funding for these.

I do not have a water softener where I live and my well water is pretty hard.

Water damage to the floor and wall, etc?