The exterior needs to be tackled in such a way that I can get the garage done in time (can't start until frost is gone from the ground), landscaping, and all exterior material (stucco, siding) for the first owners to move in.

We aren't tiling directly onto drywall either, we use the diamond back tile board for the walls, and we have a layer of roll on red seal on top of that to provide added water resistance.Fortunately I arrived in time to see the tile being applied on the waterproofed walls.

I am an out of state landlord, so for me repairs would never get done in time if I had to be there.

He was very pleasant and had planned on moving out when the lease expired because the previous owner was going to raise the rent.

How is it that you realistically think you think that some random dude from CA is going to beat out all the local investors who live there, intimately know the market, and look for deals every single day.

I'm not intimately familiar with Worcester, and which areas are good vs bad.

I've been reading and I've seen that staged homes often fetch a higher price tag, but I guess I'd have to factor in time and costs.Our current issue is we only have about 8k to spend right now and we're interested in flipping and buy and hold apartments in the north to central NJ area.

Invest in those factories in Asia -- higher risk, higher reward in times of downturn.

That being said I would never invest in any of these areas personally and I've even lived in North at one point in time.

Outlying rural CA, use 1.25% and be pleasantly surprised when it's 1.1%.I'm probably going to bookmark this answer so I can refer back to it in the future.