HI All, I am new here but have been lurking for quite a while. My husband and I have narrowed down our property search and are almost ready to make an offer on our first property to flip. I do have a question thoug...

The property manager fee needs to be paid for with IRA funds - they can take it from the account they maintain, provided they supply a corresponding invoice to justify the expense.Keep in mind, any non-disqualified party can be the property manager - perhaps you have a brother or acquaintance willing to perform these duties who will not charge you a fee, or charge a very minimal fee for their time.

With the little bit of information that you supplied, it looks like this would be a great deal.

I contacted the water department to turn on supply and they informed me I have a unpaid water for a six month period.

One of my tenants says that the power supply on three of his televisions have burned out.

This one aspect to me is important because as a buy and hold investor I want to make sure that I have a good supply of possible tenants and I don't want to have to fight to get them.  

Water supply can generally be tested with compressed air so that leaking water does  not cause any damage.

There are probably breaks in supply lines.  

When I conjure up my plan but feel like there are more opportunities up north with the excess of supply.  

Being able to understand at least at a fundamental level the underlying reasons as to why the market is heading in the direction that they are as well as what is driving your specific market/area and also the principles of supply and demand is essential in the due diligence process when selecting an area to invest in. (2) Psychology- Real estate is a people business!