If there are people living there, any of their personal possessions of any sort of value are targets, one recent phenomenon has been the theft of any sort of "good" prescription drugs like strong pain pills, etc.

then your out of pocket expenses are very minimal.

He taught me that being a landlord does not have to be a headache and that while there is some risk involved in RE, you can minimize it.

I put in my first offer on a Short sale in NC, and was surprised by a due diligence fee. it was very minimal only $200.My question: is it normal to pay a due diligence fee in other states or just NC?

They are typically zero to minimal!

The property is close to train tracks, so some higher quality, sound minimizing windows will really help the rentablity of the property. 3.

@Alex Baev, I think the combo of providing fliers and handouts to the realtor and using the units as a selling point along with minimizing the appearance is the best way forward.

. ~ For the past 11 years I have been a buy and hold investor however I have always bought with three rules to minimize risk and maximize income and liquidity.1.

While I would certainly not force a lady that old onto the street, especially given that she's done nothing wrong, she does have a place to go and I expect her to keep her commitment.In the short to medium term I can keep this afloat without the income, in the long term, I will end up defaulting if I can't get renters in there so I do have to take this seriously.The idea is to put pressure on the family to get them to stick to their commitment while having a minimal impact on the elderly lady.I guess what I'm looking for is to hear how other people would handle this complicated situation.

It will take a little time after purchase to get it ready and find a tenant, but then the work is minimal ... providing you have a good structure and mechanics, and a good tenant.We have purchased rentals that need a substantial amount of work as well, that we could do ourselves to keep the costs down.