@jayson cain Riverside does seem rough and most guides I found rank it as a D neighborhood.Do you happen to have any opinions on Brookside? 

There are four elements to a well rounded real estate investment.Cash flowAppreciationAmortization Tax breaksWhen you get all four you got a good one. 

If a combination of galvanized and/or clay, you might have to put in a whole new drain system or get dinged with a hefty repair at some point.So I do think you can minimize some of the big expenditures based on the age of the home and the type of material they used for some of the elements like that.Ultimately, though, if big stuff like that does go 10 or 20 years down the road, you should have built up more than enough cash flow and equity in the house that a 5k bill won't be that bad.I still believe that the long term results with investing in real estate if you have the right product mix, you are going to do extremely well.I would love to hear from any investors that have owned over 20 SFH's for over 20 years and see if any of them went under or if, as I would suspect, they're doing incredibly well.....The small few that I've ever been able to talk to have all seemed to be doing incredibly well.

There is also an element of time in play here.

Probably a stupid question, but when considering the quality of the electrical and plumbing work, is that something that an inspector could look at during the due-diligence period, or would it be necessary to separately bring in a subcontractor to look at those elements?

Cleveland, OH is ranked last at 382 with the largest population outflow between this time frame.

What other elements are you seeking for your lifestyle?

I'm guessing 1900-1910.Even if it is later, the style really isn't Arts&Crafts at all, and so I don't think adding typical elements of that style (whether it be the earth tone colors, square, wrapped porch posts, leaded glass, etc) would look terribly appropriate.  

Have you checked to see if you can just replace the elements or the thermostat on the existing water heater?

High fences with razor wire will help, but once the word gets out that we shoot on site (large signage will warn of this outcome), the bad element will move as far away as possible.