My contractor sealed the holes, unclogged the weep holes, removed dead landscaping that was piled high around the house, and installed a French drain and gutters, all of which we hope will solve the problem.

All normal expenses deducted management maintenance landscaping and so on.Does that sound about right?

Inexpensive land scaping is a good place to start - simply mulch the flower beds for example.

@Susan HillIf you're really making $7,000 a month in profit from a single duplex, after the loan payments, vacancies, all maintenance & repairs, cap ex, utilities, landscaping and all other expenses - I don't see why you would sell.

If there is one, does the HOA cover exterior maintenance and landscaping?.

I had been thinking about moving into it for 18 months (avoiding capital gains) - and selling my other home, anyway - while I finished up landscaping and such.The market where I live is schizophrenic (prices are all over the map) - and I'm not impressed with the small pool of realtors that work in up here (northern (like two minutes from Canada) New York) .

I've been involved in several areas of residential contracting, and have owned businesses such as remodeling, paint contracting, and landscaping.

I then subtract an assumed $20K for repairs (paint, carpet, seller's lies about repair costs, landscaping, etc.).  

So this property needs some work (cosmetic, paint, updated fixtures, landscape, hip styling) and I can get a loan for it and pay for the rehab expenses out of pocket.

I ran some comps and the price is in the ballpark The house needs some TLC (paint, landscaping, carpet) there are no major problems that I can see.