The way I see it though, a newbie has zero experience in assessing things like property walk-throughs and estimating ARV.

@Steven RofferSteven, I'm also a newbie investor and am thus far getting a very inexpensive yet comprehensive education on real estate investing through BP, checking out books from the library, reading online and talking to others.

Also, check with the HOA if there is one, maybe costs are going up either with the monthly association fees, there's a big special assessment coming up or worst yet they could be changing the rental rules not allowing short term rentals.

See the following specs:2 Bed/1 BathRent/unit: $650 (well priced for area)Units: 8Taxes/Building: $3770 as of 2013 (City of Irving tax rate 2.69% of assessed value)Given Expenses: $1,150/building in Insurance, $50.00/building in lawn careTenant pays all utilities (separately metered)My total valuation is $286,000.

They are a great way to familiarize yourself with properties in the area and provide a nice introduction to identifying and assessing a house's MACs (major areas of concern).Josh Caldwell, a fellow BP user, runs another REIA group in Pittsburgh, so consider contacting him.

., based on the reduction in the assessed value from Year 1."

It is on city water and sewer in the SW Cape Coral area and the 21K+ in water and sewer assessments have already been paid.

Meanwhile, the City continues to make exterior repairs and assess costs to the Owner.  

Of course, I want my assessments to be as accurate as possible.

This is our hangup, we’re trying to assess if the risk is worth it.