As for inspecting the plumbing, just depends on how old the house is, how long has it been sitting vacant, through the winter, what kind of water piping does it have, and what type of drain pipe does it have, just to name a few.

Expenses are low because tenants pay their own utilities except for water and trash.

I agree pure flipping is a bit risky unless you have the cash to cover early learning mistakes.

Push the money into federal municipalities, state municipalities, and paying off your most profitable property in my opinion.Federal and state municipality funds are tax free investments, and mine perform in the 8-9% range, which means tax effective 11-12% range, equal to that of a decent cap return for real estate, plus they usually pay monthly.on top of that, the last thing the states and feds wont pay is their water, power, and sewage bills, hence why its a good steady flow of income.Also, it gives you three sources of solid residual income.

She does not have any documentation on the mortgage, but I show the mortgage in 2004 for $74k and the last assignment being in 2013.I show 4 years of tax liens held by various investors totaling about $5k before interest, also a water lien and code violations.  

Annual Operating Expenses Real Estate Taxes $14,650.00 Insurance $6,874.00 Water and Sewer $18,171.00 Snow Removal $0.00 Trash Removal (ROT $60 x 12) $3,768.00 Electric $10,594.00 Gas $9,803.00 Oil $0.00 Legal (rule of thumb) $500.00 Management Fees 10% $0.00 Repairs and Maintenance $49,329.00 Other (Turn Costs + Onsite) $41,222.00 Other (Onsite Manager) $24,000.00 Total Annual Operating Expense $178,911.00 I'm thinking this is a pretty easy fix.

So about a month ago we had a pipe burst in one of our unit, water ran from upstairs bathroom down to kitchen and into basement. water remediation company had fans and dehumidifiers in that tenants place for about a week running continuously. their utilities bill webt from being approx $50 normally to about $108 dollars so around double. theres 3 roommates in that unit and each one got a $100 disount for that months rent to compensate for any contractors coming in and out and not having hot water for about 5 days. my question is should i pay for the additional electricity used caused most likely by the dehumidifiers and fans?

You also lost one month of rent and (I'm assuming you're leasing the space yourself, and not paying a broker 1-mo rent), your cost is $2,550, and you gained $50/mo.Yes - your "Break Even" is a 3.5ish years, but this ignores the value increase.Assuming a 10% cap, and you're already covering expenses, that $50/mo = $600/year = pure NOI.  

Installing a hot water tank is $600.  

I am rounding my mortgage costs up for easy calculation and my owner expenses (percentages) are pretty conservative Purchase Price: $215,000Gross Rents: $2,400 ($1,200 per unit)_________________________________________________________________________________-Mortgage Costs-Principle: $1000Interest: 3.5% ( I may do a rate & term refi for a 3.2% interest rate)Taxes: $210Insurance: $140 (Lowest quote thus far)Appox.Total: $1350/month_________________________________________________________________________________-Owner Expenses-Utilities: $0/Minimal (water and electric separate)Prop.