I know that sounds ridiculous but a bunch of the Amish have been buying up some of the worst streets and trying to turn them around as an investment strategy.

# of units: 20all 1 bedroomall 360 sq ftasking price: $379k, down from $399kyear built: 1995 (pretty rough shape though)current vacancy rate: 30% (6 of the 20 units are vacant)current rent: $125, collected weeklylocation: decent... this property is probably the worst eye sore inside of a 3 block radiusworking class area... some gang-related concerns... all in all a pretty solid town expenses: all utilities... approximately $1,900 / monthrepairs needed: not sure at this point... 10k-20k would go a long way in improving the look and appeal of the property and would likely reduce vacancy ratecap rate: 9-10%Based on the numbers, this is without a doubt the best property I've looked at, but I have a few questions:What are the best ways to reduce vacancy rates, generally speaking?

What's the worst that could happen, they say no?  

I didn't have the best "gut feel" about Troy but I had seen him at a few networking events and I talked to a few other guys that knew him so I was thinking that my worst case scenario would be to end up with no deal and my $3k back. 

A cliche that comes to mind is: find the worst house in the best neighborhood. 

Jeff I know you're new and you're nervous about making mistakes but it takes a conversation with the attorneyI coached Real Estate Investing one-on-one with people and I get on the phone and talk to their attorney, and I asked them about worst-case scenario is with these contracts.

The only advice I have for you is until you feel comfortable (and this goes beyond your first deal), make sure the worst case for you isn't life altering. 

When going through a residential loan, since this isn't on your taxes and is a hypothetical, worst case scenario, they're going to take 75% of the stated lease amount rent or appraisal rent analysis, whichever is lower.

Treat each deal as the worst case scenario and pay cash for the lien. 

The very worst that can happen is they say no and walk away.