same here. in livonia, garden city, westland, we can rent a house on poslets (now zillow) in matter of days to much more qualified people than Craplist.

I like not having to worry about the exterior of the building, landscaping etc. as the HOA does that. 

Exterior landscape and paint.

The water leak was actually caused by two sources - one was the landscaping in the rear of the house sloped toward the house and the second was a active spring close to the side of the house.  

Yeah, kitchen, baths, flooring, painting, door knobs, landscape, electrical plates, but, that's just me.

The house is being flipped and the rest of the landscaping is also going to be done.  

I attempt to keep my equity as low as I can but sometimes it gets a little high (I have a few units were for various reasons my equity is above 50% of value which is not leveraging the money well).Here is what I use for my cash flow numbers: Rent - Mortgage - Escrow (tax and insurance) - Cap expense (see above) - 10% rent (maintenance and vacancy: I actually have so far experienced less than 10% for vacancies and maintenance but I have a cheap dedicated maintenance person and take good care of our tenants) - incidentals (I have 3 units that I provide gardener and 2 units that I pay water/trash). 

(These "little things" will make an older house look and feel new easily and with a very small investment of your capital)Landscaping and exterior paint/pressure washing.

Looking to start my real estate investment career with a 1 bedroom condo in Queens (Rego Park, Kew Gardens, Sunnyside) or possibly NJ (Weehawken, West New York).  

:Up and Coming Duplex2 bed 1 bath unit that will rent for around $1600 (conservative estimate)1 bed 1 bath for $1000annual taxes 5kBeautiful street with walk to quaint shops and restaurants, should virtually 0 vacancy due to Portland rental market.Rent ready(new paint, solid appliances, refinished hardwood floors, mature low maintenance landscaping ) but could improve 1 bed unit for several thousand only.Will likely sell for around 450K+(similar property 6 months ago went for that, I offered 430K and missed out)Should I put in an offer and for how much?