Done effectively and in the proper way, this can not only have you be the 1st person that cash buyers and motivated sellers come to in your local market, but you will have enough leads to cherry pick the ones you want and sell the others to other investors (and the price for good leads is salty for sure).I will say this...Most folks don't know how or have the time to do all these things themselves, but there are firms that you can outsource this whole process to so that you don't have to do a thing. 

It's a neat little trick to disguise how much in taxes we actually pay - effective too.

I specialize in green building and high performance homes, as well as utilizing the best state incentives and tax credit programs in the country to make these kinds of improvements cost-effective.

So you can still claim the $3000 under the routine maintenance safe harbor but you cannot elect SHST for that property, instead you need to classify every item of that remaining $4000 and test each item's effect on it's respective UOP. 

Truly self-directed Solo 401k plan is more powerful, gives you more control, is cost effective but it will not work for you unless you are self-employed or own a business w/o full time employees other than you and your spouse. 

So would it be better to list the property at a lower price of $65k or at $75k and give them a 'repair allowance' or discount of $10k, effectively bringing their price to $65k.  

What are THE MOST EFFECTIVE no/low cost ways and methods of locating motivated sellers.

She is effectively paying for the cost, but the simple fact that you paid for them directly and she did not directly reimburse their cost makes for a very strong case of why she is not entitled to them should the tenancy go south down the road.

So, in looking to be the most efficient & effective with our time what tips & tricks would you suggest for using BP?  

The appraiser is required by USPAP to analyze the sale history of the subject property within the past three years of the effective date of the appraisal.