Compare their track records, compare their contracts.

The advantage we have is price, things are incredibly cheap here compared with the rest of the country.  

In this document they will pull comparable sales and those will be the base for the number you are getting. 

Don't be afraid to bring in a basement foundation repair company and get a quote to get the issues identified and fixed. 20% of 110k =  22k Down110k - 22k =     88k  Financed88k @ 4% for 30 years ===  Monthly Payment of $420  (principle and interest)Other Numbers you'll need:Property Taxes  (get on the county website)Insurance (just call an agent or ask owner)Repairs    ( Really depends on condition of property, 10-15%)Utilities    (get as many months of bills as possible)Property Mgt (even if you plan on doing this yourself)vacancy     (depends on market and property, 10%)LawnCap Ex    (depends on property but sounds high on this building) 15%These are VERY VERY rough numbers but lets look anyway...Gross Rent- 22,500 (assuming all 3 are rented at 625 and no washing machine income)ExpensesP&I-          5,040Taxes-      2,200 ( I figured 2% of home value)Ins-           800    Repairs     2250     Water       1800    (150/mth)          Look into heat billVacancy   1125Prop Mgt  2250Lawn         300Cap Ex      3375Total        19,140  22500-19140=  3,360   Cash Flow YearlyInvestment of 22,000 /  3,360 = 15.2% ReturnPlus tax advantages, paying a little down on mortgage, possibly appreciation, learn a lot.Location, Basement, Local Market, Comparable properties, and firming up numbers ALL need to be looked into.Let me know what you think! 

@Lekisha Cole zillow does have recently sold comps that you can compare the last 6 months of sales in the area.

I know properties in my area are very expensive compared to rents, and I am trying to find how to make my own numbers work here.  

Local prices for comparable built-out properties are about 1/3 of South Lake Union, so the investor ROI is usually going to be higher.  

We are both much more interested in long term returns compare to current cash flow.

I haven't seen that with the guru programs...even the ones that like to compare themselves to the Ivy League universities...  :-)

Once that is over I will probably compare that to QuickBooks.