@Ryan TerwilligerI have not had good luck doing upgrades and getting the money back unless the house is extremely out of relation to the comps.

So mind as well get the process started early on.One other thought about these situations in general: I’ve notice that many landlords often like to go to extremes when it comes to dealing with tenants.

If your homes a condo, then it's a different story because the condo market down here is extremely saturated right now.

BTW, two of them have since bought properties in Tulsa and are doing extremely well.

I may go a tiny bet higher if there is some compelling reason.I just bought an  $800 rental for  $37k and repairs went over budget and I'm in it at $43 - I think that's high.Don't overpay. 

They literally turn small attics into bedrooms (tiny things) and are able to sell their properties and profit nicely on the sell.

We attended a couple of meetings and found everyone to be very helpful, and willing to answer our questions, before we joined.Victor Jernagin, who's the President of this group, is extremely knowledgeable about all aspects of real estate investing, and overly generous with his time in helping members.Every meeting we've attended we've learned several  useful bits of information, along with the networking that's available at the meetings, makes this one of the best investments we've made in our journey to becoming successfully in real estate investing.I think as with most things, what we get out of something, is directly tied to how much effort we put forth.So, I'm sure if you're motivated, you'll be happy you decided to join us.

I find that all of these are extremely important as a bad tenant can be very costly.

But right now it's an hour drive in gridlock traffic from Long Beach and I'm kinda tired of living in a tiny flat where I eat and sleep in the same place.

I've spoken with attorneys and architects about rezoning and all are extremely positive since the property is surrounded by commercial and office zoning and this parcel has been a long time coming.