Ask to speak with some of their current owners and current/former tenants.

I suspect maximizing the investment might make it slightly less desirable as an owner or at least the renovations might have lower ROI if sold to a homeowner.

@Brett Coultas if you're a newbie, you want to be careful of an "investor friendly" agent selling you something they truly don't understand:(95+% of agents only know how to handle owner-occupied transactions - you can verify this by asking them calculate ROI for you or Cash-On-Cash!

Why did you decide to exit out of a laundromat after holding it for a short period of time and putting in all that time and effort?  

If you are going to be an owner-occupant, want a low down payment, and are planning to do a renovation, the FHA 203k and Fannie May Homestyle loans are your best optionsHow do you know the property is currently upside down on the mortgage? 

When I was 19 I was washing dishes out of high school in Columbus and then decided to buy a single-family rental.

The problem is that you don't get an opportunity to do an inspection before you buy.If you buy pre-sale from the owner, you have arrears to bring current, getting the owner to move after you have solved their problem and taken the pressure off, along with the previously listed concerns.

If a property goes into foreclosure on a second, as Ken said you will either be buying it subject to the first mortgage - meaning it's your mortgage now - or the first has to be satisfied to take possession of the property - or the owner of the first is going to be there bidding what they are owed, so you would need to outbid them to get the property and then you are the person paying off the first mortgage. 

But it bounced back okay in 2021 and boomed in 2022 so we decided to double down and get an older costa rican style property around the corner.

Unfortunately, the previous owners used the same lease for this garage space as they used for the residential units.