The best properties to purchase are run down apartments.
The dilapidated conditions outside are usually a sign that the owner has given up on the property.
They are much more likely to sell the property to anyone that will give them an offer to purchase the property.
You can purchase the property at a steep discount, fix it up and create a nice profit for your work.
We just purchased a quad apartment property that was literally on its last leg and going down for the count.
The property had shrubs that had grown 4 feet out into the parking lot, a junk car in the parking lot, mounds and mounds of trash on the back patios and no gutters which was creating water damage on the wood.
On top of that the property only had one out of four rented and the last remaining survivor had no idea what was going on.
Our first plan of attack was to improve the view of the building from the outside.
So we sent in the troops over the weekend to begin to clean up all the trash.
We called a wrecker company to haul off the junk car.
We got a landscape company to start pruning back the shrubs.
We attack the outside first because of the philosophy of making a good first impression.
If potential tenants do not like the outside, it does not matter what is going on in the inside because they will not like to rent the unit.
Once we have improved the outside of the unit, we start to attack the inside of each unit.
The quickest way to make a unit look good is to completely paint the interior of the unit.
Once the painting is finished, you can have the carpets cleaned.
These two simple acts can turn an eyesore of a unit into a unit that is highly prized by potential renters.
If you need to you should always replace appliances that appear to be in poor condition.
Most tenants will spend more time in the kitchen than in any other room.
The appearance of this room can be the make or break decision on whether or not someone wants to rent the unit.
Make sure you spend plenty of time making sure the kitchen shines.
The best property to purchase is a "down and out" property.
You can purchase it a discounted price and then be able to improve it with a little bit of work.
Once you have improved the value of the property you can sell it at a profit.