If you are going to pay retail value (which there is nothing wrong with that), you want to make sure it is renovated to retail for the area, otherwise you really will be upside down.  

Renting the wrong place costs you a month or two of rent to break the lease, or a little aggravation while you live out the lease.

I had always thought that having an “in house’ PM was far superior to hiring a property management company, but now I realize I might have been wrong.

It comes in handy if something goes wrong.

It may seem like a lot, but taking an apartment down for the wrong 40 days can cost you 3 months of rent.  

These were a great place to park the cash we were building up to purchase our first property, as their weren't many major price swings and you have a 5% cushion/hedge if you bought at the wrong time.  

I'll keep you posted.BrettAs I've mentioned before, if your attorney doesn't know or understand basic subject-to purchases, you've got the wrong attorney.  

The other looming issue is they often trade wrong.

Account Closed can chime in, and correct me if I'm wrong 

It's a chess match that takes years of strategizing, making many small moves that develop and snowball after many years of right (and sometimes wrong) choices.If you can't prequalify now, plan for the future.