As for the yard ... she never mowed the lawn until I reminded her (several times), but then she did mow it, and there are toys and bicycles and things strewed all over.

Generally they don't have to worry about lawn care, maintenance, etc.  

Even with management in place and payments for PITI, water, sewer, trash, and lawn care, the place nets around $850 every month.

Take gross rents, subtract expenses (insurance, taxes, maintenance, lawn, property management (must include even if managing yourself) etc. then subtract mortgage.

And I can't imagine how oil prices can be held down for much longer unless if artificially so.

Most investors will be including it in their Cash Flow analysis of your property if you ever decide to sell.There are other miscellaneous expenses to consider (Lawn care/snow removal, pest control, legal, accounting, marketing, etc).

Segmented / accelerated deprectaion - many investors will look to sell after the accelerated deprecation is completed.aggressively set basis - limiting value of land Repair vs renovation expenses Self manage vs property managerKid labor  - pay own kid to mow the lawn, etcexpenses associated with buying and owning propertyChapter S vs LLC - you can pay yourself as an employee and retain earnings within the entity.1031 exchange - It is a tough thing to make happen.  

Hey everyone, I was just wondering what you guys pay in the Cleveland area for lawn care generally?  

When you purchase that property, you hire real estate agents, title companies, handymen, painters, plumbers, advertisement, people to mow the lawn while vacant and so on.

Nothing really wrong with the house other than the lawn is burned as hell.Again, this all could of been avoided if they had just informed me what was going on.