Clean and well maintained but nothing more.With my apartments I explain maintenance versus upgrades to the tenants.There will be no upgrades only repairs to existing appliances,mechanicals,etc.The tenants have to accept it or move elsewhere.I looked at hiring exterminator,contractors,etc.

I do not use big renovation companies, but rather, rely on individual contractors who I've established a relationship with over the years.

Owners work with contractors, management companies, vendors and the public at large; owning land allows you to bring people together to take ideas and create projects that result in everyone being happy.

My quad's come out to 64,000 a door for 850 to 950 a month in rent on my apartments.I don't look at it only from a cash flow perspective however.The area I have the buildings in is an A location prime for redevelopment down the road.Mike it sounds like your local market is competitive with investors and your margins are thin.On one hand it is good to be in a thriving market where demand is strong because usually supply is lower and the amount of rentals and new development for multifamily cannot meet demand.This helps rents grow at a rate that outpaces utility increases and inflation.The downside is it can make some investors overspend on a property because they feel good about the market.I looked for over 2 years before I bought something.I said many times those buyers were nuts.I tracked the properties and many investment properties after purchase just 1 to 2 years later went into foreclosure.They bought at such a price that it wasn't sustainable.I look for a 10 CAP or better on my purchases.The problem is if you someone who has only gotten 1 percent interest off of a CD or Treasuries or they have gotten beat up in the stock market.Those types of buyers jump up and down to get a 7% annual CAP return beating out your offers everyday of the week.By in large many buyers like this can be lazy.They only look in the MLS for listed properties.Value can be found marketing to sellers that are not on the market.They don't want to make public all of their problems ( I know it is common knowledge of default at some point but this is their mindset ).

If winter isn't a good time in your area to be selling/renovating houses, then I would imagine contractors are pretty slow and desperate for work.

It has dozens of other great features which I won't get into here, but you'll see what I mean if you decide to pull the trigger.The main thing is to have a central database for all of your buyers/sellers/contractors/attorneys/realtors and so forth, so you can streamline your work flow.For my main website, I use the Wordpress blog platform with Optimize Press.

Make sure you have a clause in the contract or add it to a addendum that if the value does not hit a certain amount you have option to renew the same terms for a additional amount of time.Marv Rousselow

Next you either wholesale it which involves marketing, finding buyers, closing...all while trying to make a modest profit.Or you could rehab and resell it which involves properly setting your budget, knowing the market to determine exact repairs/finishes to make, lining up contractors, managing your budget, managing your contractors, managing your schedule to minimize your holding costs, finding an end buyer, with 100+ other tasks mixed in.Your comment about planning is dead on.

I made a mistake of going with a contractor that my tenant recommended who was a helper for the DEMO.

While I'm open to pretty much any type of partnership opportunity (if the deal is right), the rehabs I've been doing for other investors have mostly been just a flat-fee type of arrangement where I come in and take care of all details of the rehab.Basically, I consult on the level of rehab and finishes, put together the deal analysis, help put together the budget/schedule, and then bring in my contractors, manage them day-to-day and complete the rehab for the investor as we've agreed (or as he wants).