Our second triplex we bought fully rented (after the rehab the rented it) so had CF from Day 1 and luckily 2 of the 3 tenants renewed.We hire out snow removal but do our own lawn care so in summer I we spend 1 day a month at the property mowing the lawn.

We spend more money on maintenance and upkeep to our buildings but it pays back dividends with limited turnover.

Each office is independently owned and operated.Your broker assumes some responsibility for your actions and that is why some will oppose you spending all of your time doing things that don't benefit their business.

He lives in Buffalo, NY and spends the Winter in Fort Lauderdale and he is Italian.

Rent for Tenant Buyer - $1200 per month for 12 months, ability to extend lease for 12 months, option to buy at $99K, buyer pays closing costs.

Does $5000 include flight, hotel, and all your spending money?

A lot depends on your goals.Here is a previous thread that may give you some answers.https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/55/topics/103905-another-newbie-question---if-you-had-400k-how-would-you-spend-itYou also need to decide how active or passive you want to be.

I have indeed begun listening to the podcasts and have been spending a lot of time reading here.

Spend 15-20 hours on this site searching, reading, practicing evaulations, studying your market, factoring in your available investment money, then set some GOALS.

I don't see where you came up with the $20-$40k figure.As a 'buy and hold', a $170k house that rents for $1150 is horrible, it wouldn't cash flow enough if you bought it for $100k (which I would consider a good deal if its really worth $170k and needs $25k in repairs).So it has to be a flip,,,I'm not a flipper, but first it would scare me that with the problems you have described, there might be a LOT more deferred maintenance you haven't found yet,,so the rehab cost could be much higher.As many have stated, just contact the owner and see if he even has an interest in selling, until you find that out I wouldn't spend a lot of time on it, you need a motivated seller, so he has to be interested in selling or it won't ever work.andy