I have $165,000 in combined equity in my condo units currently.  

It was backed by Y Combinator.

In a nutshell, it states you buy a property, rehab it and then use the new equity created as the down payment when you refinance this have little to not money out of pocket in the deal. 2) I would speak with a lender as I am not sure about this but IMO if you go ahead and split the lot and it has an appraised value of around 100k, that gives you more "equity" if you were to get a HELOC on the combined property.

More important than reported financials is local expertise on the area and tenant behavior combined with an understanding of the building's characteristics and condition.

Likely to the dollar losing value as much as increased demand for the real estate, but appreciation is appreciation.Muni bonds are ok, but the interest is very low and municipalities are going broke all the time.Give me my tax-deferred appreciation (as small as it may be) combined with a depreciation write off, 10 percent cash on cash return (after expenses) partially sheltered by the aforementioned depreciation deduction, the ability to increase future rents to offset inflation and I'm one happy camper.  

Combine this with the amount of rain we get and a basement spells disaster.I think I know the area you are talking about as I’m moving that way personally.

I dont want to get in a legal battle but I have spent More money on this one tenant than any of the other stuff ones combined.

You probably can't get that door hardware any more unless you go to an antique place but if there's nothing particularly historical about what you have you can sleeve the entire opening if necessary and add modern door knobs/deadbolts.

Anybody who's seen the South Park transformation knows that overtime you can see a "bad" neighborhood turn to very profitable and modern. 

I guess:better financing termsmore available options to purchasedon't have to pay any utilitiesmore flexibilitylonger term rentersless tenants to manageWhat it wouldn't have is:ability to scalecan't force appreciationless renters so even though vacancies are less, the cost is higherBut my primary thing is, if I can buy 5 houses for $500k with 100k down making 8k a year combined, why would I buy an 8 plex 5 or 6 cap where I just break even?