It's good to have a general contractor to look over your prospects and advise you the potential costs beyond your purchase price for any deficiencies requiring attention.

But having said that, there are properties that are prone/known for structural deficiencies due to age, construction, and location. 

And my agent sent me a picture of a letter the lawyer is sending me saying that the panel is working so it doesn’t count as a qualifying deficiency.

@Nathan Clingan its what is referred to as an "exit" contingency...if you do not like what you see, you exit the deal...but it does depend on the language you use...usually this is straightforward...under normal circumstances, you would demonstrate the deficiencies you discovered by providing a copy of your inspection report to the seller.

I'm going to rip them out in a few years (there are serious deficiencies with them, and I'm going to end up offering the unit fully-furnished-plus-internet-and-utilities, so it's badly needed), so it's not worth it to get all the old bits of paint off.

If not, and you are truly going to see a cashflow deficiency then you might want to think about your investment or see if you can find somebody to partner with and put more money down so you can cash flow to keep things running.  

In summary the Democrats are about as serious on raising taxes on the rich as republicans are about cutting the deficient: Not serious

Hey,I’d get a contractor and get him/her to write up a list of deficiencies you can use to drive down the price and put in a firm and final offer.

Contracts, oral or written, and Promissory Notes have a statute of limitations of 3 years (MCA 75-3-118, 75-2-725, and 15-1-49).Open Accounts or credit card agreements have a statute of limitations of 3 years from the date at which time the items on the account became due and payable (MCA 15-1-29 & MCA 15-1-31).Judgment liens on real estate, orders by a court of law allowing a creditor the right to take possession of a debtor’s property after he or she failed to meet duties under an agreed up contract, have a 7 year period of limitation, but may be renewed by filing suit to renew the judgment prior to the expiration of the 7th year (MCA 15-1-47).Deficiency claims, or the balance left on a foreclosed mortgage, has a limitation period of 1 year from the sale of collateral (MCA 15-1-23) as do enforcement of construction liens, claims against property by a contractor, from the date the lien is filed (MCA 85- 7-141).

Financially driven appreciation - Apartments allow you to fix operational deficiencies and increase income.