My preference is to buy the property with no tenant in place so I can do the necessary repairs/upgrades and then choose a tenant based on my own criteria.

So based on that, I assume this is basically a wholesaling contract. 

I'm a contractor based in Hammond and would love to connect. 

. $750- Screws, adhesives and fasteners (cement board screws, caulk, etc) $50- Paint $40- Miscellaneous $100TOTAL: $2530With all of that said these numbers would be my BASE run, and assuming I was spending my budget amount on each item.

Dom, it sounds like you should touch base with a real estate friendly accountant, so that you can run some scenarios by him/her.

In many counties, like where I live in Jackson County, they will reduce the assessed value of a property that is dilapidated or bought in foreclosure or whatever for two years (if you challenge the value based on your purchase or other info).

Market value is based on what hime prices are trending for and what people are willing to pay for.

Based on those two numbers, I would dig in deeper.

This is just a start, but I think with a bit more information, you can avoid the usual answers here like, KC, Indy, Memphis, Austin, Cleveland, etc, etc (these are ALL fine markets, but I would assert that investing in any of those cities is NOT always the best choice for the out-of-state investor, based on answers to the questions above, as there are success stories on REI in almost every town in America).

I am wondering if folks can answer few basic questions : 1)  I am based in MA  - Should I form LLC in RI or MA?