I'm getting the blinds and a couple of decor items in this week.  

@Jay Hinrichs preaches this msg in every post I read, and some people will still blindly buy in a market they know nothing about!!!

Im not blinded by pride, and understand all too well the inner-workings as well as how to manipulate them to my advantage.

She says is just two hours worth of work but I tend to disagree after looking at the existing trim in the house, all the trim from the floor to the ceiling needs an overhaul to look new again.In the five years they lived in the home the owners replaced or renovated the following:AC, dishwasher, windows (double paned with blinds in between panes, can open to reach the blinds), flooring (throughout was very nice but I'd replace the peel-n-stick with laminate so it would be laminate throughout), sheetrock, texture, and paint throughout, ceiling fans and light fixtures throughout, sinks in both bathrooms, chain link fence dog run added, and a storage shed.Other positives:  I talked to neighbors and they are very happy living there, there is a beautiful and big rec center, gym, kids playground, monthly potlucks, people wave to each other as they drive by, there's a craft group that meets, etc. 

I will admit i went at investing in real estate blindly in the past with no education and learned some expensive lessons.

Bottom line, for each opportunity you want to pursue, take the time to think through the best way to find the lead, rather than blindly purchasing lists that might be outdated and over sold.

I know that investors and lenders are supposed to be a unique breed that can look beyond the muck and mire and see the gem that a deal is supposed to be, but the truth is that sometimes we are as "blinded" by the mess 💩 and miss the gem.  

I'm too conservative to buy blind but if I did I would estimate repairs for worse case scenario and I would drive by the property, possibly try to take a peak and talk to the neighbors. 5) costs I can think of; closing costs, repairs, holding costs such and taxes.

I have removed the non-paying tenant, and now two great tenants with good jobs and are very handy (they do all the repair labor for me; I just pay for materials) live there paying $700/month (this is a bit below market, but I'm OK with that since they help me out with repairs).My plan is to keep on doing some necessary repairs--just cosmetic stuff like replacing the broken blinds and replacing the smoke detectors, etc., since there's nothing major that needs to be done (otherwise I would use contractors rather than the tenants)--and then sell it to a local investor for $85,000ish who wants cash flow but doesn't want to go out-of-state or just refinance and keep it as a cash-flowing rental and then use the money from the refinance (or the sale) to, depending on how the market's looking, collect additional cash-flowing properties in the Antelope Valley or simply sit on cash until we have another correction.  

Past mayors turned a blind eye to it and did nothing to stop it.