All the 'room' in these deals come from the sellers - but now I see one, and I understand.Sure, they could keep it over the winter, heat it, fix the floors, get it inspected and re-do wiring and plumbing as needed, dredge the pond, knock the down the animal infested outbuildings, mow all fall and part of spring, check for snow dams and water damage all winter.

California, for example, is horrible compared to Texas, where the standard to hold a property owner liable for a contractor's negligence is exceptionally difficult.

i don't want to get too political, but unfortunately, business is politics...my biggest complaint owning apartments was how the government would support tenants til death and shun the landlords...have had several code violations properties, where i fix everything, but tenants do the damage again, and we go back to environmental court with the code inspector..even when i have pics and proof, it's still an expensive pain lawyering up when the government provides free attorneys to tenants..i guess i don't have it as bad as others...in some states it takes months to evict, and in others if the tenants don't pay the city water bill, the government can lien your property...all this does is put more pressure on landlords and take responsibilty off of tenants..to me, that is a huge pain!

Things like roofs, water heaters, A/C units gone bad, tree roots in the sewer line, etc.Let's say this property rents for $1,000 / month.

What I was saying in the post was: Some people may have lower standards than you do and will stoop to using underhand tactics that you would not even consider.

The main disadvantage is you will be held to a higher standard.

You need to carry your own water in a 50/50 deal.

[& is this escrow requirement,& 1% "activation fee" standard with HML's?

Just blew them out of the water on performance.

Use the standardized approach to formulate your estimates keeping within those stats of similar properties, you need to do that because the reader of your plan will be using that same information and if you are too far out, without good justification, it becomes a reflection on you as a business person, are you doing or capable of doing your due diligence or are you trying to fog your way through and reap some benefit.