I did not have rentals then, but will say I think the key is not to be over leveraged, 80% is way too much in my opinion, im comfortable below 60% LTV, this allows for a fairly significant retraction, and I should be able to push my rents lower if needed to keep units filled, hopefully longer than the other guy, and I can buy his at the court house for pennies on the dollar. 

The plan is also to expand liquor and tobacco sales and sublease car wash space.The arrangement would be that I get 30% equity for the 40k and the two guys who run the LLCwould put up 20k.

if you are anywhere wet stain it, it with otherwise get this sort of black moldy look and you have to pressure wash it off which shreds the wood. 

I'm here now, exploring the REI game and pushing to get my first deal under my belt in the next couple of months, and would love to hear from you all what you've done to secure yourselves (and your loved ones) with solid health coverage while fully digging your heels into this real estate game.Thanks in advance.Manny (from New York)

Plan on pressure washing entire building, fixing any loose/missing vinyl, paint window trim as needed , paint foundation slate grey, repair handrails ( paint white) , paint all 4 doors black, and add modest landscaping to improve the outside appearance of the property TOTAL spend budgeted $10,000 for Repairs/ Upfits DEAL DETAILS: Purchased through a brokerOriginal asking price was $130,000 we were able to get it under contract for a $110,000 cash offer because another person who was trying to buy it kept it under contract for 3 months and the owner was ready to close fast.

Don't over budget push contractor more Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Maybe if I had brought down the purchase price because of what I know now, it would have been a wash instead of a loss.2nd thing:  People.  

Continue to push forward and make it a great year!

That was what originally pushed our September 14th closing date back by a week. 

Doesn't quite work out to be a wash because CA usually has higher tax rates so if you earned $2,000 in SC you probably paid a much lower rate... say $50 in taxes but in CA the tax on $2,000 is probably more like $180, but you would only get a credit for $50 so CA still essentially taxes that $2,000 in some fashion.