Do you have a trusted association, one who's totally unrelated to this transaction, who can go check out this area and the property?

You also may be looking at paying for some transformers etc for the electric company to handle the new load.

Totally forgot to figure in a manager's and bookkeeper's fee!

My question is, when I present the contract to the seller do I make the purchase price of the property the amount that the seller wants 5k, or the total amount with the 19k in taxes plus the estimated rehab amount plus my fee added to the amount the seller asks for?

The roof is totally gone now and the second floor is exposed to the elements.

He probably has a few connections he trusts... and he should be able to vouch for you as a customer (yearly work, total scope, pay on time, etc).Of course that also tells him you're looking past him for when he kicks the can so you'll have to figure out how to phrase that...

Al Williamson - I love the idea of the moving walls . . . here's a cool video to spark your imagination even more:A Tiny Apartment Transformed into 24 Rooms

My scale could be totally inappropriate for your area.)

Totally serious, as the small community of families I raised children with here in CA now has 3 young adults in Austin. 70K for safe, entry level housing is enticing to CA and NYC parents, trust me (I've been both).

We closed on a 4 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom, 1,648 square foot house built in 1999, with a one acre lot for $104,395.08 total cash in an area with good schools on May 25.