3 to 4 years ago we had rampant fraud in Atlanta.They said they had rehabbed and sold junker 2/1's and 3/1's for 150k to 225k that were built in the 1940's and 1950's.I went to look at these junkers and man what a waste.The city of Atlanta is still having crazy assessments of 240k and yearly taxes of 4,000 !

Often it takes a little money though to get started in business and you will want to assess the risks involved.

The only state I know of that requires a walk-through is California, and even in California, the tenant is still responsible for damage discovered after they move out.It's impossible to assess all the damage in a house that is still filled with furniture.No landlord anywhere will allow you back inside to clean after you have turned the keys in.

If nothing else, I would be more than happy to help you understand the process and expectations as far as pricing, debt, risk assessment, etc.

And special assessments - aren't those substitutes for the occasional big expense that landlords incur?

The neighboring homes should ALWAYS be assessed before making a final decision and a home looking like that should negatively impact your decision to purchase it, for flip, for hold, for ental, for anything.

I did the 'Drive-by' on all the properties and also looked at the assessed values on county site.

If you have a property that is located in an area where vandalism is the sport of the day, you can't really tie a set reserve to any index, like property value or rents, it will have to come from experience with that property.Being in a financial positiomn to cover any uninsured damage is the goal, if you can do that from day one without a "sinking fund" startegy, all well and good, but if you can't, I suggest you set aside all that you can initially and establish your reserve as quiclkly as you can (hopefully before your fisrt lease is over).What you need to assess is the risk of wear and tear as well as damage that is uninsurable for each property and then assess the risk in light of the probability of losses occuring at or near the same time on other properties.Never think that since you have quality "maintenance free" properties in great locations that you won't have any expense in the first or first few years.

The terms of any installment contract will need to be underwritten if it is not an excluded transaction.Three, before you get into a contract, you need to underwrite or assess the ability of the buyer to perform and more often than not, terms, conditions and covenants will need to address issues concerning any deficiency the buyer may have.

Or, a tax assessment?