Nevertheless, I'll likely need the cash to cover the mortgage and repairs.

If it is/was an automotive repair business I'd be concerned about underground storage tanks, surface contamination, etc. 

In the process of coming up with a legal agreement between us, we cannot figure out how to address when we have differences on how to solve disagreements on repairs.

ARV $160k after $40k in  repairs. 

All turnovers are handled "in-house," with no outside bids or quotes to ensure market rate repairs.

Have had 2 appliance repair men tell me they are worth the investment.  

I've sold rentals before and almost always was asked for a copy of my Sch E.Also during the due diligence and inspection, try to talk to the tenants directly to confirm how much they pay, and also if there are known issues that haven't been repaired (roof leaks, frozen pipes in the same area every winter, etc).

maybe the owner wants full retail price even though it needs all these repairs... and thus isn't a deal. 

Deduct NEW property taxes after you buyDeduct home insurance costsDeduct maintenance percentage, typically 10%Deduct vacancy+tenant nonperformance percentage(we recommend 5% for Class A, 10% Class B, 20% Class C, good luck with Class D)Deduct whatever dollar/percentage of cashflow you wantNow, what you have left over is the amount for debt service.Enter it into a mortgage calculator, with current interest rate for an investment property, to determine your maximum mortgage amount.Divide the mortgage amount by either 75% or 80%, depending on the required down payment percentage - this is your tentative price to offer.If the property needs repairs, you'll want to deduct 110%-120% of the estimated repairs from this amount.Be sure to also research the ARV and make sure it's 10-20% higher than your tentative purchase price.As long as the ARV checks out, this is the purchase price to offer.It is probably significantly below the asking price.

With the exception of a service call for a minor repair which is hourly plus materials .