A simple measure to keep drains clear and smelling fresh is to put 1/2 cup of baking soda down the drain, followed by a cup of vinegar poured slowly.

I uncovered a multitude of issues (mainly cosmetic) but I have a couple of big ticket maintenance issues remaining - a slab drain leak (not supply) which was recently discovered and the home appears to need slight leveling (door jambs tight, small gap on brick outside). 

I am now thinking, after hearing a few podcasts, that maybe flipping isn’t the best option for fresh investors who both have full time jobs.

But I tend to eat fresh.

We renovated the laundry room, added a refrigerator and painted the cabinets to bring a fresh, clean look, along with a little bit of hands-on TLC we did ourselves on weekends and during our lunch breaks.

I suspect that we will all be waiting a lifetime to see rates back to were they were 2 to 4 years ago.. so I would not bank on that.. as for pricing.. if its a place to live then you certainly can just wait and see.. its not like your homeless or need to move other than you don't care for your neighbors.. markets always slow about now.. what will be telling in my mind is were we are at next Feb March April in the buying season as it were.I was in a conference this week here in Vegas and some of the speculation is that many of the commercial type loans that had 5 , 7 and 10 year calls  are going to stress those that had max leverage.. as the rates rise the cap rates rise to keep pace thereby devaluing the properties.. to the point some of these investors are going to need to bring some to significant amount of fresh capital to pay down their debt to get a refi.. and that will stress those assets and there could be a real buying opp in that sector.. at least that's what I gleaned from the talk I listened to yesterday... hope you find that dream home in the country !!!

When I have a vacancy, I change the key to a "master" key that I use for showings, then when new tenants move in, they get fresh keys - my copy goes in the safe. 

The practical issue comes to who the bank can recover from after things go bad and personal guarantees help the bank to solve that.So, for example, you can open an LLC or whatever business vehicle, but practically, banks aren't going to loan you unlimited money since a fresh company probably has no business history/assets.

I’ve been an independent contractor for about 6 months, and am looking to buy my first property but am having trouble securing financing due to that I don’t have two previous years of 1099 tax forms (because I’m fresh out of college).

Use it as a lesson and start over fresh with your next tenants.