Another thing we have thought about is buying a small home, renting it out and maybe finding a cheap apartment somewhere... 

Hopefully I can get in cheap and do some remodeling, HOPEFULLY!.

Unless the ARV is over $75k, it's in a good retail area AND you can get it dirt cheap, I'd say pass.

i prefer tile and if the folks fuss you can always buy some rugs pretty cheap to put down for them.

The Kitchen also has tile and new cheap cabinets and counter tops.This would be my second real estate purchase and my first investment deal.So,Do experienced buy/holders avoid old houses like this?

Anyway, this is the rough breakdown:$2,500 for flooring (carpet at $1.20 sf installed, vinyl plank at $2) -- I was told on BP not to use vinyl plank because it would look cheap, but I chose to use it for several reasons that I can go into if you would like, and I'm really happy with the choice.

No idea what the rent is, but lets assume its really cheap at $500/month - you're offering him $6000/year for $10K.

Cheap labor.

At an average of $5 a pack (he smokes the cheap ones), that's $450 a month.I found a place online where you buy roll-your-own supplies and you can roll a whole carton for about $8, including shipping costs.So, in the past couple of days I rolled 2 cartons for him, saving $80.

taxes seem super cheap. that complex up here would be about 10k in per year.