We are still in the lender shopping phase and our current lender had told us previously that a house with a bad carpet or needing painting external/internal shouldn't be a concern.Well fast forward and there was a house we were interested in.

If vacancies or unexpected repairs occur it could get ugly fast.

Once and a while the disposal is actually shot so I replace it - super easy, cheap, and fast if there is already a disposal there.

I would like to ensure that the management company has incentive of choose a good tenant rather than filling the unit as fast as possible. 

Fast forward to today, and I have another deal tee'd up which is another SFH in a good area.  

You can usually get close to full value on your property and move properties fast. 

If they have to sell it fast for say 90K less about 9% sales costs (8,100), and the sales nets about 1,900, not such a good deal is it?  

But don't let them pull a fast one on you either.And no way would I pay her the going rate for a designer.

It takes more than money to be a continued financial success in the real estate business.The Hard Way – Start from the bottom and learn the business – study neighborhoods – attend auctions (don’t bid, just observe.Take courses – but be very selected – don’t over pay – don’t chase the Get Rich Fast programs from Fast Talking Know Nothing Promoters – most of them are trashGet in the field – drive around – farm – talk to neighbors – get listings – call FSBO’s, have agents keep you informed of trends and off market properties – train a real estate buyer’s agentLearn to make offers – but first you need to know what to make offers on, you must understand clauses and contracts – you need to know and understand every word and what that word will do for you or how it can hurt you – my clients are trained to use a contract form we call a Skinny Contract – it is a one page document – it has the address – the offer – and clauses that allow you to sandwich yourself in for an assignment fee and most importantly – full disclosures and what happens if you cannot settle – Set goals ----yep – sound silly, but it works – set a goal to look at 50 properties – My clients call this the 50 house rule – select an area – make appointments with FSBO’s and agents – keep a journal, write down everything about the property especially the cost per square foot, financials, the owner and the building – look at 50 properties – but don’t make offers – just look and study the market – A doctor will studies for years, watches others doctors slice open patients and after many years he has a chance to be a real doctor who has learned to heal people – study your potential profession and work as hard as a doctor would – expose yourself to experience – your job is to know your market better than anyone – it takes a medical student many years to reach their potential – you can earn as you learn without spending years in the process.Working the 50 house rule – don’t make offers on any of them – just keep looking.The purpose of the 50 house Rule is to know every detail about properties on the market, the expired listing market, the tax sale market, the HUD market as well as the market at the court house steps.

That's right at 30k for your 285k property.Just under 3k sq ft isn't enormous, but that's a lot of house and money goes fast on bigger houses.