But I was right off of the lakes and I had to park blocks away.

Church Hill for example has some very rich houses but one or two blocks over and you may not want to live there.

@Sarah McCoyI concur with @Russell Brazil as he mentioned the carpet colors and only one bathroom.

So as I stated in earlier posts Im looking to secure my retirement by purchasing enough rental properties to allow me to live of the cash flow once they are paid off (any positive cash flow in the meantime would be re-invested)So browsing this morning I came across a property one block over from my house for sale.  

Being very handy and extremely comfortable with numbers, and having a connections in construction, design, electrical, HVAC and plumbing, I think I may have the building blocks to make a legitimate go of the flipping business.

North Philly can really vary block by block, but Temple has a nice pocket around it with some real potential, especially as the school succeeds. 

# of units: 20all 1 bedroomall 360 sq ftasking price: $379k, down from $399kyear built: 1995 (pretty rough shape though)current vacancy rate: 30% (6 of the 20 units are vacant)current rent: $125, collected weeklylocation: decent... this property is probably the worst eye sore inside of a 3 block radiusworking class area... some gang-related concerns... all in all a pretty solid town expenses: all utilities... approximately $1,900 / monthrepairs needed: not sure at this point... 10k-20k would go a long way in improving the look and appeal of the property and would likely reduce vacancy ratecap rate: 9-10%Based on the numbers, this is without a doubt the best property I've looked at, but I have a few questions:What are the best ways to reduce vacancy rates, generally speaking?

You can find a fortune of interactive statistical information on the city, from income, property values, race, unemployment and a lot more-  and drill down to the level of zip code, neighbourhood or block by block info. 

What colors are most popular, should you put molding on the ceiling, should I wire the living room for surround sound, etc...  

There are even towns that won't let you put up a sign for a lemonade stand or garage sale at the end of the block.