Clearly not an apples to apple comparison.Turns out the owner has made some improvements since May, like a new roof (which I verified by driving past it today), re-tarring the driveway, improving the garage - this is everything I could see from the driveby - will see the interior on Friday. 

You will still need to have a reserve for large capital expenditures like roof, boiler, etc depending on the size of the building.

What I keep for each property Original sale contract Mortgage / recent mortgage statementProperty management info - to include name  / phone property tax sheet (even in mortgage pays it)property insurance info any major repair / expenses (roof/ appliances ) invoicesspreadsheet that shows  rent / expenses / taxes / insurance ..  

This could be a house built within the last 5-10 years or a recent rehabbed house (pay attention to the roof). 

The building I am looking to acquire is a 6500 sq ft block construction shingle roof building built in the 1980s, with a total of 42 garage doors (21  10x30 units with doors on either side so they can be subdivided into 2 units).

Most of the older homes were over engineered however they also are more likely to have been abused meaning too many layers of siding or roofing or crappy electrical or plumbing splices here and there.

His building needs a roof, air conditioners & interior renovation.

If you look at 8 houses, and you are reviewing all at the end of the day, you can tell where one ends and the next begins,  We also make sure not to take too many pictures. 8 max of only the high ticket items, roof, windows, kitchen, electric panel, kitchen, baths, furnace, ac, front and back, andything unusual,  i dont want a picture with a hole in drywall that will cost 25.00 to fix, no pictures of carpet of paint, or things we will replace in every house.... always a couple photos for perspective. 

I mean, the places I recently looked at are lower end neighborhoods are $550000 with foundation and roof damage, where the rents would barely cover the mortgage, these would be investment only properties.

The roof is tarped.