you can uncover attractive opportunities, but on a macro level it is not a great place to be; price appreciation and taxes could easily move against us over coming years. 

While you are more likely to get a deal off-market since there isn't the same competition driving up price, and in this scenario these were brought to you, but in the normal course of business, you will be spending a lot of time and often times real money in marketing costs to uncover off market deals.  

I personally enjoy the process of uncovering hidden gems through research and analysis, and in finding markets before they get 'hot'.  

When you dug in, you uncovered even more red flags of different names, poor exposure online and bad reviews.  

My issue is that the background check uncovered that he has a First Office DUI that he is supposed to go to his pretrial at just before his desired move in date. 

.- Home was damaged by a fire in the kitchen. 10x10 uncovered hole in the roof for about a year.- Home is completely gutted down to the studs per seller.I have not inspected the property on the inside.

Maybe you should hire a PI to uncover this.

Recently a crack surrounding a window was uncovered and there is noticeable separation and cracks in the basement (one of the cracks on the basement you can see outside!).

Be completely transparent - communicate clearly with the lender you are speaking with about anything that they may uncover when looking into you and your investments(s).

My point is; don't waste a lot of money looking for properties when because they still pop up in unexpected places and you don't need to cause yourself more stress by wasting money.The best deals I ever got always came from real estate agents I visited and handed a business card to and you will meet many agents who will scratch your back at real estate clubs.The most-important factor to be successful is having the ability to analyze a property correctly to determine how much you can squeeze out of it after doing a little cosmetic work, rehabbing, increasing rents, calculating principal paydown, depreciation and then turn over every rock to uncover all the expenses and costs a high percent of investors ignore.