On "turnover" of my rentals he would say "I'll paint the interior for $200, you buy the paint".After a day or 2 he'd ask me to bring over my lawn mower, weed whacker and hedge trimmer, then he'd want all the cleaning supplies, etc, etc.

Banks will pay for other services but those also can be handled by licensed agents (BPO, clean out scheduling, coordinating maintenance and some evictions).Unless you want to buy a large portfolio and have a large bank balance to demonstrate Proof Of Funds (POF) assume that most deals will be through a local RE agent.

Assuming clean title and no other positions and no back taxes and no pending lawsuits tying up the property in any way (lotta research...), his $144K first might be worthy of a $160K buyout tops, with him covering legal fees.

We don't have Mexicans in my area, so paying someone like you to clean the barn or do chores while I am busy every once in a while would be a great service.

However the upside to this is the competition is not as cruel here and its easier to make your place in this business.

It means that the dust is minimized and cleaned up when they're finished.Even if you're never going to do any work yourself (which I don't recommend) you should be knowledgeable of trade terms, procedures and practices.

It's a lot easier to lose a $65 stove than a $400 stove!

ABSOLUTELY NOTIt's easier to deal with a thousand agents across the country (whose paycheck is partially based on how nice he/she is to the asset manager), than it is to deal with 500,000 buyers complaining about how long it takes to get a response to their offer.

What I mean is, once you have the rehab done and are looking to sell it, is it easier in say the summer compared to the winter to sell that property?

So, clean up and fix up all the little stuff you can do easily.