There are a ton of vacant businesses and houses in the city.

The north side of the city is near the city's growth corridor and I find it preferable to living in that area of town.

Here's the details:Purchase Price: $62,000Closing costs: approx $3,000Monthly Rent ($725, unit 3&4 currently rented)Unit 1- 600 (2br) -newer cabinets and carpetUnit 2- 450 (1br) -newer cabinets and carpetUnit 3- 350 (studio)Unit 4- 375 (1br)Monthly Expenses- ($488, not including management or maintenance)Insurance- 83tax-138 water- 47 (total house-city won't provide separate meters) trash-18 gas-50 (owner pays gas for unit 3 and 4, 1 water heater for both units) electricity- unknown sewer-26 unknown (estimate based on local rates - 26)Maintenance ???

One of the best resources for data is:http://www.city-data.com/county/DeKalb_County-GA.htmlYou should also read up on the cities within Dekalb and all of the areas trying to become cities.

I'm in NYC, and always considering looking 2 hours outside of the city where numbers are on the much lower side.

I knew the home was in a good neighborhood, growing city, recognized school district.

The city fire dept & an EPA guy will drop by unannounced to do an audit & I think he only got fined once for expired fire extinguishes.

I used to concentrate on Kenner, Metairie, LaPlace, the areas that I considered to be "safer" than the city.

.-- We are looking in the Jackson, MS and Memphis, TN area (give or take 25-50 miles from city center in either place).-- We do have the capital in order to do this.-- I don't need any banking advice as we've got a bank we use that is ready to lend to us when we find a good deal.

The area has a good mix of owners and renters and house values are rising in concert with the many of the other cities in Macomb County.