This will give you one critical piece of information, that it may take X days to get an offer and sell, and the second item will give you what your competition is right now.

If the house has all major components in working order a few cosmetic items doesn't make it not livable.

And addressing my item #1 comment, almost always, when a "distressed" homeowner is approached, they initially are grateful to have the loan brought current, but before long they forget the circumstances they were in and you become the bad guy that stole their house.

We understand that not every negative item we dispute will come off.We persist until we succeed because you must have a high-level of doggedness as a real estate entrepreneur.We understand there will be sunk costs and time being wasted.

Anyone that has sold items privately would have countered any offer. 

The property taxes will be on his Schedule A during the time the property was his primary residence, assuming he itemizes.

There are a lot of options out there.Some of the most useful items BiggerPockets members have identified are features that save time so they can spend time working on their next property.

Of course you can get discounts for having certain items FULLY updated, like plumbing.  

How much can you budget for furnishings and all kitchen items and creature comforts for the ones you want to MTR.If you have a vacant 6-unit, you have great possibilities to try all strategies.

Paying off the notes, working to pre-emptively make repairs to capex items before they fail or become a major issue think roof, HVAC, and foundation.