@Leah Matthews Welcome to BP - it's refreshing to hear you're new investors yet have managed to purchased two rentals in a seemingly difficult area.

It's a challenge and I'm always open to new ways to improve my work/life balance.

This is a great trend to see as it creates renewed interest in more difficult neighborhoods and revives communities.Is this happening in other areas across the country?

We've had escrow issues where mortgage wouldn't close without repair escrow, said we needed to produce receipts of repairs to get our funds returned, but then when proof given, the mortgage company wants escrow funds put toward balance on our loan instead of releasing our funds back to us (even though we'd already put 25% down).

Finding good, reliable contractors was difficult, but the good news is they all know each other, so once you find a couple that you know do quality work, show up on time, finish the job, and have competitive prices, they can point you to other people they have worked with in the past.

maybe), that one is a cove style bar high towards the ceiling otherwise it was difficult to put furniture in the room.

You may find it difficult to sell, unless you rehab it for another investor that focuses on renting properties in war/border zones.

In short, it can be very difficult to distinguish a pit bull, especially due to the cross-breeding that takes place.

I think that the issue that will arise is that it will be difficult to get a bank to do the loan, especially if you are only trying to finance out the smaller private lender loan.

The tenants as you might expect were less than happy with the situation and were difficult to deal with.and certainly unappreciative of my efforts to fix the situation.