What sorts of CAP rates are you getting after the 'conversions'? 

You talk about getting ripped off.. just take your plane into a bad shop for an annual that your expecting to be 6 to 8k and you get a 50k bill.. and they won't let the plane go until you pay it... its that kind of education that is invaluable.So like here on BP all sorts of great info.. and many folks just trying to find their way in the industry..

@Stephen S.The man who owned this house before me did a very poor job of maintaining this boiler, and he allowed the air in the basement to be damp, which made it even worse.The 'bonnet' is the part in this picture that looks like a mushroom sitting on top of the boiler (this is not my image, i just google image searched it)http://www.merrypad.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11...

This includes a steam clean of the carpets ; sort of sets the standards for teh tenants when they move in

And I would only flip upper end condos, I've seen several people get stuck with sort of middle class condos.

If the plumber they used went in there and just snaked it, that would have been all they had known.Unless you can find some sort of smoking gun proof that the former owners were told by a plumber that the drain pipe was put in wrong and needed to be fixed, I don't see any way they could be held liable.Unfortunately, its just called a piece of bad luck.

Its probably RT4 or RT2, which means a maximum of four units or two units per property respectively, but of course all sorts of other rules come into play too like setbacks, etc.Definitely be careful when buying this bulk purchase as far as taking on properties with code violations, which nearly any REO at least in the city will have because they inspect them all and meeting exterior code to the letter is essentially a like new house.

Again, this sort of depends on type of lender which it's not clear which is suitable.

Especially if you get any sort of snow, ice, or wind.

@Jon Klaus is correct...that's sort of redundant.  ;-)Richardson, particularly west of 75 is a great flip area.