I've had a tough time filling a vacancy since September 1st after I had renovated the unit; I pulled up the carpet to put down vinyl flooring, re-painted, and added stainless steel appliances. 

@Andrew AgerI can use an extra hand in painting a rental.

I had to repair the driveway, new fence, do the roof suffice, new kitchen cabinets for one of the units, fix the front and rear decks/porches, installed security cameras, eviction cost of 3k, dumpster cost, paints, interior door

You can get a pretty nice house that only needs paint and carpet for around 40-60 in this area and depending on the area it’s not all bad ( I used to live in warren) I’m almost ready to make a purchase and I will be buying in Warren.

If you buy in your market near you, may be you can take on some minor work like paint and flooring?

Look up things like doors, windows, fixtures, lighting, paint, appliances. 

Immediately after getting an LOI or contract i request the following items....Exhibit BInventory of property tools, supplies and personal propertyExhibit CService contracts including trash, laundry, extermination, lawn service, etc.HVAC and/or boiler reportsExhibit D Property management license (if applicable)Certificate of occupancyExhibit E Certificate of insuranceInsurance claims history for the past 2 yearsExhibit F Commission agreements with the leasing staffCurrent property management contractAny other vendor contractsOther Requested Due Diligence DocumentsLast 2 years of financial operating statementsA year-to-date operating statementLast 6 months of bank statementsUtility deposit registerUtility bills for the last 2 years.Property tax bills for the last 2 yearsIRS Tax returns and addendums for the last 2 years (as relatedto the property only) Articles of IncorporationGood Standing Letter from the Department of RevenueAny licenses in the name of Sathyam EnterprisesRent roll for the property for the last 2 yearsSecurity deposit registerPayroll recordsEach different lease typeWritten property policies such as pets and parkingInformation on all rent concessionsList of any uncompleted maintenance requestsMaintenance and capital improvement history for past 3 yearsLitigation history on the property for the past 5 yearsAny operation manuals for the propertyTitle policySite planArchitectural plansEnvironmental ReportsAny mold inspection reportsAny lead-based paint inspection reportsAny fire system reports or citations

I had a house with wood windows painted charcoal gray and the sun was not kind to those windows.

Carpets I'm replacing anyway, and new paint throughout, but I think the walls will need a special cleaning before any new paint can be applied.

Here are my numbers:St Louis budget Repairs:Roof. 8,000Upstairs Kitchens. 2500 x 4 = 10,000(Cabinets 900)(Appliances 1100)(Counters fixtures 500)Bath 1000 x 4 = 4000(Toilet, vanity mirror faucet 500)(Shower pan, valve 500)Floors. 6000Drywall, Trim 4000Doors, locks, 1000Paint. 4000Lights. 1000Misc. 2000Total upstairs. 32,000Downstairs Baths. 4000Floors. 7000Drywall paint. 6000Windows, glass. 2000Accents, wood, etc. 2000Lights. 1000Misc. 2000Labor. 3000Total downstairs. 27,000Unexpected 10,000$77,000Purchase: $104,000Total investment: $181,000ARV: $220,000YearlyTaxes. 4000Insurance. 4000Property management 6000Vacancies 4000Maintenance 4000Mortgage. 10000Total expenses = $32,000Revenue 12 x 4000 = $48000Income = $18,000 per yearI feel there may be some more costs to come once I get into things but that’s ok.