He hired a contractor and crew who tore-up and trenched a channel in the garage concrete  to access the pipes,  trenched the front lawn, and tore up the kitchen floor and wall. 

Like Connor said, vacancy rate seems a tad bit high.Looks like you won't have a property manager, so are you going to do the lawn maintenance yourself?

A year+ later and both are still rented.I also have a baby barn on another property which is rented to the neighbour next door ... as part of the deal he clears snow and mows the lawn.

Are you including insurance, water, sewer, regular maintenance, lawn/snow removal into your costs?

Really if you can never imagine running a weed whacker or fixing a loose deck rail or mowing a lawn, then the condo may fit your rental management abilities.

Every auction I have seen recently artificially raised the prices.

And of course the tenants take care of mowing the lawns and shoveling the snow, so that expense in not my expense either.

., the appraisal industry is out of whack right now, as pointed out in the video by the president of the appraisal institute, to make a long story short, an appraiser will come in with a artificially low appraisal either because they are unfamiliar with the area or to ensure another assignment from the lender who's untrained appraisal reviewer always seems to come in with a lower number.

With not paying for lawn care during the winter we try 97%.My son found a warehouse that he wants to buy for his company.

The first set of renters never cut the grass and let the bushes/trees grow through my fence, which I paid to have replaced(not due to the growth recently).When I mentioned the problems to the neighbor he said "ok, we'll just get a lawn service to call me".They have moved out a week ago and now others are starting to view the property.