Too many little expenses that I do not know if my mom can afford.

Or you can go a little North to Wilton that has excellent schools, or a little farther east to Westport, but Norwalk is by far the most affordable.

Eg, if the tenant can only afford $600 instead of $650, the property is empty for a month if the tenant leaves, then it'll take you 13 months to make up that missing month.In my opinion, empty properties don't make money.FWIW, we have dropped rents for tenants in the past, like the couple who had just had a child and her company fired her when she went into labor three weeks early.

They know that an investor will not fight them, because we cannot afford the carry cost from the time it would take.

I could not afford more than $50k purchase with $25k rehab. 

As a landlord, I'd recommend a membership to WA landlord Association (WaLandlord.com,t hey help answer these kinds of questions and have great forms.In Washington the rules are below.  

@Robert T.  

Those range from 130-160K and would be pretty affordable, especially if you could buy it as a primary residence, and they would make great short term rentals being right in the heart of downtown.

Originally posted by @Karyn T.

Here's why.If you were buying a property to live in, you would accept whatever you could afford, and what the property was worth.