You need to find a few sales that are nearby (<0.5 mi and in the same neighborhood), recent (<90 days ideally), and for comparable properties (same age, same size, same beds and baths).Lets assume, though, that the $132K is correct.

The "Apocalypse thread" reminded me of a question I have been wondering about for a long time.This is the digital age and currency is now more ephemeral and malleable than ever.

Very tough times right now in the rental business.I am one of the few landlords I know with 100% occup. right now but I had to pay for it, reduced all my rents 10% across the board to keep my good tenants, and my last vacancy took 5 months to fill and I had to drop my rent 20% from the previous lease to fill it.Everywhere I look are for rent and for sale signs and the tenant quality had degraded tremendously .. credit ratings, background checks etc, which equates to higher damages for landlords and less ability to collect on those expenses .. experience speaking there..Taking on a rental property for a flip is a dangerous game unless you can fully afford to fund the payments for a LONG time and still make a better profit then the risk free rate of return on cash.One bad tenant, not paying, damages, legal problems, and you could be looking a total loss of investment.. which could be considerable to get a mortgage these days.That said:Property Taxes, Insurance costs, upfront renovation costsHouse Age < 10 years preferredRoof Age < 10 year < 5 years preferredInsulation QualityElectrical system ageHeating/Cooling System Age < 10 years < 5 years preferredFloors (Carpets are a hole you throw money into), tile preferredKitchen and Baths (Expensive renovations)You have to be able to accept rental payments up to 20% below the market to get a good tenant and credit and background checks are mandatory .. so longer empty periods are expected right now.Personally, I think this is a great time to begin to build a rental business as properties are available well below rebuilding costsand hence will appreciate but OJT Landlord training will be expensive ESPECIALLY NOW!

I'm sure there is some issue hiding in the vacant building, but besides age, nothing jumped out during the whole walk through.

Hi all. New member here.  My wife and I are in our mid/late forties and have decided to start buying single family rental properties.  Probably in the $100-$150k price range; which in our area (N. Central W) will buy ...

Routine maintenance  is very hard to guess because it will depend on the age of everything in the house but I have used 5% from the rent value. good luck

If I could proceed sooner I would get a construction loan to complete the container home conversion, restore the abandoned lot and rerun water/sewer lines that are aging and hopefully have enough to repay the equity loan.I'd love to know what others would do. 

Consider your grandfathers age. 

And it depends on your age and your earning power..   

When you reach my age (hmm, I actually remember Kennedy getting shot, I was young but I remember) and at this stage I don't care how much "equity" I have in my properties, (which is substantial) I am more about cash flow.