Along with the BPO you can take a peek at it on zillow/trulia/etc and see what the house looks like (google maps street view is great), as well as what the other houses in the neighborhood are listed for.You can quickly figure out if it's a nice neighborhood with manicured lawns or if it's a junkyard.

If you are going to flip the house not only do you want it to look nice (professionaly done) but you want to feel comfortable when you are presenting your property for sale or rent.

This was over 2 years ago.Google street view is a nice thing, but you're essentially looking back in time quite a bit.

Nice shape, newer roof, and now that kids have broken in for me - I have gotten to see that it seems to need nothing.

NICE!

Disadvantage, it will be my first home that I OWN..The meat - 3 family - 2462 SF - Purchase price $300,000 (in discussion w/owner)Unit 1- 3bdrm plus art gallery - $1400/MoUnit 2 - 2bd - $1100/MoUnit 3 - 1bd - $900/MoTotal (conservative rents) = $3400/MoProperty is recently vacant, in decent shape (out-dated) nothing major needed ASAP, I would look to do minor cosmetic upgrades to be a "higher standard" rental unit at competitive market rate.2nd Property - Single Family 3,000 SF 5 bdrms - 2 kitchens (possible multi conversion) - Purchase Price $280,000 (in discussion w/owner)Quiet Dead end street in nice neighborhood, large backyard w/greenhouse-ARV - $425-$450,000Assessed $440,000..Initial walk through property needs new roof, and may have mold issue.

@Michael Lebeau,Welcome to the Best Real Estate Site on the Net.It is always nice to see another Ct., resident in the forums.Click on the "learn tab" at the top of this page, and you could be spending many hours on the Information that is available.Raymond

And good ways to get a low cap rates is to have high rents and make it a nice place to live, with full occupancy.

I've seen some nice houses over there, but there are some not too nice houses far to close.

HI valerie, nice to meet you.