I've had to mow yards for tenants before because they weren't keeping it up to code and the city charges $184 plus 18% interest per cut, most expensive lawn service in town which is immediately recorded as a lien.

It sounds like you have a reasonable income so if you work to cut back on your expenses to save as much as you can you can be on the road to investing soon.

Originally posted by Gracy Josh: The lease contract says 2 months notice + 1 Month rent as fee for early terminationOkay well sounds pretty clear cut that they owe you 2 months plus the fee.If you rent it in less than 2 months then you should refund the rent part as you can't really collect rent from 2 parties at once.

Example I put a trashed property under contract then I pay someone to go in their and clean it out, haul the trash off, cut the grass, maybe replace the broken glass in the windows, Paint the door, clean the gutters out.

Example I put a trashed property under contract then I pay someone to go in their and clean it out, haul the trash off, cut the grass, maybe replace the broken glass in the windows, Paint the door, clean the gutters out.

Is there any downside in cutting all my gutter down spots and running them away from the house with an extension piece instead of into the ground downspout?

I'm not a fan of HOAs, the fees can be onerous.But I have benefited by getting a new roof, new siding, and a new parking lot from the HOA fees that I paid.And besides those extraordinary items they also provided grass cutting, snow removal, heat, hot water, sewer, trash removal, insurance and outside maintenance.And besides those normal fees that I would have had to provide they also provided some items that I would not ordinarily provide like swimming pools (hate the maintenance and the liability), tennis courts and club house.

I heard a leak and after some detective work and cutting open the back of my kitchen cabinet I finally have located a few pin holes at the bottom of a kitchen copper drain line.These pin holes unfortunately are impossible to patch in that the cause is corrosion and is almost always caused by tenants or previous owners sending hazardous chemicals like Draino down the line and those chemical sat at the bottom and ate at the line and eventually you get holes.

I might even sign a release reserving the right to buy at my price if the brother doesn't buy and retain full title only in his name and maintain possession for x years, that might change the brothers attempts to make a buck by cutting you out or turning it into a rental, etc.

If your real tenant buyer actually exists and actually pays the rent, I'll take a cut of it.