To me "stress" comes in two varieties: Income stress is things that happen that will reduce your income, vacancy, increased competition, change in market demand.

I have been listening to BP for a few months, and just now beginning to read/engage on the forums.

@Erin Schenk I am an investor and real estate agent in Bakersfield and have considered out of state as well, but for me, I prefer Bakersfield becuase I manage my properties myself which increases my cash flow and cuts down on vacancies and repair costs. 

@Mackaylee Beach I dont mind replacing the driveway if i thought it were something that would increase my rent. 

In addition, the property after value add is likely to have initial cash flow and, if I am correct about the continuing rent appreciation, the cash flow will increase each year while my fixed financing is constant (a little variance due to escrow holding). 

Our published prices are for 12 months but we'll do 6 monht for +$75, 3 month for +$125 and month to month for +$250The reason for the increase is there is a lot of cost that goes into a new lease. 

It can be a hassle at times, but the increase in your ROI from self-managing is hard to beat.

Over improvement not only costs you money up front, it increases your long term maintenance and repair costs.

Look to ensure that its value would increase by lots more than the cost of fixing it!

I had them do this retroactively on a tenant increasing her portion $150 / month.