My house on slab is in a nice middle income area with expensive fishing boats and RVs in the concrete driveways, yet 2 comps were on another area with block homes, hoopties in dirt driveways, and 2 of the comps even sat next to trashy convenience stores.

I would get an inspection on every property even if its a shell . maybe there's something you don't see with foundation etc . few hundred for an inspection should just be a part of the expense of doing a project 

First red flag, that part is extremely expensive (like new unit expensive), he may be steering me to buy a new unit which is easier and more straightforward than repairing.

Not as expensive as new cabinets but more than paint. 

I’m not a fan of including utilities as you encourage tenant waste and your property appears to be more expensive than the comps. 

Updating plumbing, electrical, etc. is not as expensive as most folks think, especially in smaller homes that are abundant in the Detroit market.You also have the budget to do BRRRR's in a market like Detroit, but please don't try and go that route on your own. 

Even in an area like Lynn (North Shore) the margin between gross monthly income and all expenses based on an $800k property would net us approx $-2500/mo.

The houses were less expensive so the risk on my end would have been lower but time is money and I could have spent a ton of money driving. 

From my knowledge it really depends on where you are in Newark, I know there are many expensive areas and not so expensive areas.

Even with the additional maintenance expense we still drive a 66% better NOI than if the entire park was TOH.