look at utilities and other added benefits you could upsell to your tenants, but it looks like you have a great deal, just screen properly and be professional firm and courteous to your tenants.

Long vacancies and bad tenant to not produce positive cash flow even if the house was free.

But, they also keep building apartments that are under utilized.  

I'd be curious what systems you utilized to streamline your business? 

This park was abandoned about 1.5 years ago after the owner defaulted on the loan, and hence all utilities were shut off, forcing all tenants to leave.

I would try to get permitting for 2-4 units if possible.2) New construction would run you about $165 sq/ft  in the area.Im looking at a new construction project for a 1300 sq ft sfh near 66th/westernif you need to tear down the existing structure may be more. 3) first steps is get architecture drawings, understand the utilities needed, then permitting.  

How do you all account for pro-ration of utility bills when billing back to tenants?

Yes, I do think it's careless to provide specific advise on an income producing asset class that one has no direct ownership experience with, especially in DC with the amount of red tape and pitfalls involved. 

When you retire, that initial capital investment is worth significantly more and produces scaled cash flow while still being in a conservative asset class and/or market. 

@Farzan SetayeshNothing out of the ordinary, but I use the combination of the following consistently:- google photo for agent photo/video sharing- docusign for executing docs- acrobat X for all other doc edits- whatsapp for texts and phone calls- online money wiring or ACH for large items- paypal or venmo for smaller items- zelle or ACH for collecting rent- yelp or taskrabbit for misc repairs- lawnlove for landscaping or snow removal - skype for group meetings- Dropbox for online record storage- google voice for call forwarding - email for all tenant communications - autodraft for all utility & mortgage payments- online payments for all taxes & insurance - google earth to survey neighborhoods for out of town purchases - amazon or HD for online parts ordering The automation & streamlining of low value tasks enable me to preserve time for higher value activities.