Given that it's family, the purchase price is reasonable and the property has been vacant a while and is in rough shape, so it needs a full gut rehab.

Marcus & Millichap also publishes a lot of research on market conditions, and a couple times per year publishes a report that overviews and ranks the best markets for apartment investing and the trends that contribute to the rankings...

Some of this data is available on a neighborhood/zip basis other only at the county level.If the underlying trends in a market are poor then that will impact the DOM, etc.As far as ARV - you can only do this by carefully examining comps.

One window retailed for 4,000 and I get it for 300.Regardless, the older home that needs help has a bottom price near 60,000 and that's in rough shape.

* Is there a negative employment/demographic/crime trend in this area that is harming occupancy and would make turnaround difficult?

In no shape or form are you going to hand him any money.

The house directly across the street rents for 700 but is in really bad shape compared to mine.

They should be able to provide you with the past several months worth of NOD trends.

I always get the address.2) What kind of shape is the property in?

The building itself is in excellent shape with four of the six units fully renovated (new kitchen & bath) within the last two years.