I will say, the train to Philly is convenient and attractive, but there is still definitely a lot of roughness to the area.

Would it surprise you to know a great deal of title search and examination is done in the Philippines and India? 

A couple of weeks ago I found out the bigger psychotic mutt had been committed to a mental institution and his wife divorced him while he was in there.Thank you very much for sharing your story, sometimes we never know what are we going to get as tenants or guests, that is the reason why is so important to be super specific with contracts and rules so we don't end up having unfortunate surprises and ugly situations...

If you decide to change realtors, don't be surprised if you find out that you can't without having to compensate that realtor too.

I am surprised to see a lender indicate their belief that this is not a duplex, that a duplex has to be attached.  

What a surprise.

You would be surprised by how many people you find who are highly motivated.

If they ask you to show 50k and you show 90k they love that like your girl likes a surprise dozen roses.Now, as far as flipping in general and flipping in a big city. 

I was pleasantly surprised that i    did not feel pressured to purchase the 3 day training on flipping houses that included a credit limit of over a million dollars to fund deals and a course on purchasing tax lein certificates that give a rate of return of 16 to 50%.  

EDUCATE YOURSELF - yes, it will take time, but will lead to a selection that better meets your expectations & avoids potentially costly surprises!